Essential Prefab Straw Bale Construction

About the Author

Chris Magwood has designed and built some of the most innovative, sustainable buildings in North America, including the first off-grid, straw bale home in Ontario. He is co-founder and director the Endeavour Centre for Innovative Building and Living and co-editor of the Sustainable Building Essentials series. He has helped hundreds of people work through the process to design their own sustainable home and achieve their dreams. Chris is the author of Essential Prefab Straw Bale Construction, Essential Hempcrete Construction, Straw Bale Details, More Straw Bale Building, and Making Better Buildings.

view author profile

The Complete Step-by-Step Guide

by Chris Magwood

Prefabricated straw bale wall panels combine the performance and low environmental impact of traditional straw bale with reduced labor and more consistent results. These structural insulated panels (SIPs) are built offsite and transported to the job site, or built onsite and "tipped up" into position. Essential Prefab Straw Bale Construction is a fully illustrated practical guide to this affordable, scalable method.

Going well beyond the scope of many natural building books, this indispensable manual includes a complete introduction to the use of prefabricated bale walls, packed with all the information you need to determine whether they are the right choice for your project. It covers:

Specifications, engineering details and building code references
Comprehensive step-by-step instructions and detail drawings
Finishing and maintenance techniques
Budgeting and labor estimates
Additional resources.

This book is part of the Sustainable Building Essential Series. You can subscribe to the series here to receive sneak peeks, book excerpts and special offers.

The Scoop on Poop

Safely capturing and recycling the nutrients in greywater, humanure and urine

by Dan Chiras

Flush it and forget it is the plumbing mantra of the industrialized world. Most people just want sewage to go away, preferably without having to see, …

view title info