When the straw bale homes were completed, the families were part of an open house self-guided tour for the public to be able to appreciate the buildings.

Touring across Douglas, Ozark and Howell counties to view successful completion of Straw Bale Homes with the Straw Bale Construction Initiative with Top of the Ozarks, RC&D.

The End is near!
That would be the end of the Strawbale Housing Initiative Program that has been made available through Top of the Ozarks RC&D in partnership with HUD and U.M. Missouri Extension services.  We will be announcing plans for the tour on radio stations in Ava, Missouri, Houston, Missouri and West Plains, Missouri as [...]

On Friday October 16th Tom Arth and I were invited to do a presentation on strawbale houses at the Thayer Rotary Club luncheon.
I gave a PowerPoint presentation on the five houses finished in the grant program funded by HUD and administrated by the Top of the Ozarks RC&D Inc. in a partnership with the University [...]

I’ve mentioned using rice hulls for use as insulaton.  They are definitely worth consideration. The biggest negative that I can see is handling.  When compared to bagged cellulose, the cost to package rice hulls in neat little bags is too high.
Today’s bag of cellulose insulation costs approximately 65 cents per cubic foot after the bag [...]

“Green” is a whole life style, not just solar panels on the roof and driving a hybrid car. It all starts with common sense, eating right, living clean and using what works most efficiently. Using only what you need; not all you can afford.

Building green in the true sense doesn’t make a big splash. It [...]

We’re observing a noble effort to demonstrate energy management by active Weatherization Programs which will no doubt beef up insulation in homes, make every effort to stop air leaks (or circulation), and in general make each structure in the program a “tight ship”.
Here is where I have a real problem with the Weatherization Program.  In [...]

We’ve had some experimenting going on with the directionality of the straw bales when putting up the walls for a straw bale house.   Some are going in with the FLAT side of the bale (looks like the straw is laying out in a line) while other bales are taking the tall and narrow aspect with [...]

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In my research on straw bale construction, termites have not had much recognition or at least not much has been printed.
In the southern half of the United States these pests are a real problem to homeowners or owners of any building containing materials they will eat. Their appetite can stretch from wood to sheet rock.
When [...]