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Straw bale as with mud construction will last indefinitely provided one has followed good building practice. Some of the earliest constructed straw bale buildings i.e. the earliest known surviving straw bale house - the Burke house was built in 1903 in Nebraska and still survives in good condition despite having been abandoned for many years. Remember straw bale only began with the advent of the baling machine!

There are numerous examples of very old mud constructions having survived to this day besides our relatively young 300-400 year old Cape Manor houses from the 500 year old cob buildings in England and medieval tudor frame and clay straw buildings of Europe, there are 7 - 9 storey skyscapers in Yemen many over 1000 years old and parts of the great wall of China which are many thousands of years old!

No - unless you are missing the point - The whole idea is to use as locally sourced natural material as possible...thus only if you are in or near a straw producing area then would it make sense to use straw bale. But if you are surrounded by abundant stone and sand but no clay for instance then one would opt for stone and or sandbag walls, etc. Natural buildings are often a hybrid of naturally occurring locally available materials - preferably from the site itself.

Well one always compromises some where along the line in a design process whatever material you go for it has it's own limitations and opportunities....so I would say no....design is a process of refining all the elements to work to give the best of a brief, it's site, and the materials all within the parameters of an achievable process and budget.

Passive solar building design involves the modelling, selection and use of appropriate passive solar technologies to maintain the building at a desired temperature range (usually based around human thermal comfort) throughout the sun's daily and annual cycles. As a result it generally minimizes the use of active solar, renewable energy and especially fossil fuel technologies.

The term “embodied energy” refers to the total sum of the energy required to manufacture, supply and making use of a product, material or service. It includes the process of the raw material extraction, to transport, manufacturing, assembly, installation as well as the capital and other costs of a specific material - to produce a service or product and finally its dis-assembly, deconstruction.
E.g. a product which is produced environmentally friendly in Europe and which gets exported to South Africa may still have a higher embodied energy then a locally produced product which is not so environmentally friendly.

We are Architects and not builders. So we won’t be able to build the house for you.
We will do the design and all the required drawings that are needed to have your house approved and built. We will furthermore oversee the whole building process from beginning to end.
We can also do workshops in order to train you or others to build with Straw Bales or other natural materials.

All these methods are typically more labour intensive and much less capital intensive than modern construction materials...thus even when the costs are overall the same more money is spent on labour and skills development with much less on material and transport.

Earthen buildings - there are many different ways of building with earth.

Simplest constructions i.e. mud brick, cob and earth bag etc make use of a typically abundant locally available material i.e. earth (needs only about 20% clay the rest being silts, sand and gravels (and straw in the case of cob), with only the simplest of tools, enabling one to build for oneself with the simplest of means.

More infrastructure intensive methods/systems like "rammed earth" require shuttering in which to compact the earth. Thus these systems require greater capital investment, typically with less labour than cob or mud brick and are thus more suited to larger more conventional construction companies as seen in Australia where major companies are doing rammed earth at 60% the cost of conventional walling systems (note walls are only approx. 20% of a total building cost depending on the design)

Compressed earth brick - requires expensive earth brick compressing machines and the use of at least 4% cement as a stabilizer....so are more capital intensive....but still produce local jobs which help stimulate local economies and reduce the waste and pollution involved in transport and packaging of standard bricks.....and being stabilized have the advantage of being much less susceptible to moisture so can even be used as face bricks.

For more information on the advantages of Straw bale construction, please see: "What are the benefits of Straw Bale construction? "

For more information on the advantages of Sand Bag construction, please see: "What is the advantage of sand bag construction?"

Yes but by no means an insurmountable problem by any means. However if you are to be successful you must know what to avoid as well as what to use/do....It can also be difficult to source certain products if you are unfamiliar with what is out there.

Straw bales even more so than with mud brick, rammed earth, cob, earth bag etc greatest enemy is moisture - thus one needs to adhere to good building practices especially when building in rain prone areas i.e. good foundations, proper sill details, proper roof overhangs and the use of breathable plasters and paints. It is always best to get good technical assistance from someone who understands these materials when building with them.

Being and thinking “green” is not just a passing fashion as it is publicized in magazines etc. Considering our present environmental imperative, making ecologically correct decisions has becoming increasingly important. Bearing in mind that our whole way of life is based on oil consumption we have to start thinking of a more sustainable approach to tread lightly on this planet, and therefore respect and care for the Earth in a sustainable manner and not exploit it as we are doing now.
Note that:

• More than 50 % of the oil consumption in the world is used for the manufacturing of conventional building materials, such as cement.

• Concrete production is harmful to the environment and is said to be responsible for 5 -8% of greenhouse gases.
   

As never before the human race faces a crisis of sustainability and our standard/conventional construction industry presently/typically only serves to exacerbate our present environmental crisis.  It is worth remembering we are either part of the solution or part of the problem. Natural building is in my opinion a far superior approach to the built environment.
Natural building engenders environmental protection, water conservation, energy efficiency, embracing only non - toxic non-polluting materials while fostering local economic and cultural development within a framework of recyclability.....see my manifesto for green architecture.

Green architecture is not a style, trend or a vernacular. Neither is it new. It is a climatically, geographically and culturally appropriate way of architecture and building. It combines the best of both old and new technology. Green Architecture treads lightly on this planet and respects and cares for the Earth in a sustainable manner.

The key benefits are:

• Reduced operating-costs for buildings and their landscapes.

• Improved occupancy rates.

• Improved health and productivity for building inhabitants.

• Higher property values.

• Low environmental impact.

• Sustainable development.

In our “Manifesto For Green Architecture” 6 broad principles for a greener approach to architecture are proposed.
Click here for more info on the Manifesto.

A good option is "light clay" (or "Leichtlehm"). This is a mixture of clay, straw and sand is mixed together and placed between a shutter framework and compressed. The materials can be sourced from the site itself and is easy to work with. It offers very high levels of insulation for relatively thin walls and roofs.

Another way of insulating using local and natural materials: Pole roof rafters with purlins above.....reed ceilings or edged timber off-cuts to the underside of the purlins then about 60 - 70 mm of thatch running perpendicular to the reeds then coated with a clay sand mix.....also very important to not fill it to the top of the purlins so as to leave a small air gap above the clay sand, so as to avoid the sheets ever touching the top of the clay (otherwise the heat will radiate right through the sheets into the insulation dramatically cutting down on its effectiveness)

We typically put 2 layers of 50mm "Isotherm" (recycled plastic felting comes in rolls of varying thickness) so we can lapp the insulation to close over any but joints between the rolls of insulation and have a radiant heat barrier like "Alucusion" or "sisilation" on top with space for an air gap between the radiant barrier and the roof sheet (never touching as this would be totally ineffectual). This typically requires 114x50mm purlins fixed with hurricane clips rather than the standard 75x50 purlins used with sheet roofing. However, if you are going low cost you could go down to 70mm isotherm with or without your radiant barrier......basically the more insulation you can effect in the roof the better.

Most certainly.......approx 60% of your heat gain and loss will be through your roof. If you let too much heat radiate through the roof the insulation of the walls will then help trap your heat inside your spaces.

Cob comprises of a stiff mixture of clay sand, water and straw, which is freshly packed onto a stone or masonry base wall to create sturdy load bearing structures. Traditionally buildings of this kind are known to last many hundreds of years. The clay acts as a binder, the sand gives strength, while the straw acts as reinforcing. With straw bale construction, cob makes an excellent medium for plugging in odd gaps. It can also be used to create solid sculptured reveals around openings and niches.
Cob has got nothing to do with mielie meal or corn cobs as sometimes mistakenly thought!!

Besides using straw bales and cob, light clay, adobe, wattle and daub or sandbags etc
also then look at using rubble trench foundations rather than conventional concrete foundations, stone or urbanite for foundation base walls, your own harvested poles for structure (non-toxically treated or biodynamic harvesting methods).. second hand windows and doors, second hand fittings (most 2nd hand goods require lots of running around and TLC so requires time), light clay roofing insulation, earthen plasters, home made paints etc.
Using recycled bottles to build walls or windows can also be a way  to create beautiful patterns of light. The walls create good insulation.

(Also please see  " Are there any other natural building technologies other than Straw Bales? ")

Timber is a beautiful, natural product. It is therefore somewhat of an irony that most commonly used preservatives and finishes still involve the use of highly toxic, even carcinogenic substances. Some preservative treatments being used in this country are even banned in first world countries.

So as to better protect our environment and the quality of indoor air we prefer to use boron treated timber which is a non-toxic method.

For more information on timber please see our manual: “A Guide to Sustainable Timber Use in South Africa”, which is available on our website. Please click here.

Yes of course. It is a common perception in South Africa that planted roofs don’t work, because you can’t seal them properly. This is not true. Planted roofs have been around for along time already in Europe and elsewhere. There are also numerous successful examples in South Africa. The latest planted roof design by Eco Design Architects is the award winning Gatehouse building at the Nieuwoudtville Caravan Site.

We normally use paint from the following suppliers:

www.pronature.co.za - Suppliers of Natural Non Toxic Wall Paints and Wood Finishes
www.breathecoat.co.za -Suppliers of environmentally friendly wall coatings and more
www.harlequinpaint.com - Supplier of a range of coatings, oils, stains and wood primers

Balancing the amount of clay with a range of gravel, sand and silt is an essential part of building successfully with earth. If necessary strength can often be improved with use of admixtures and stabilizers. Ideally the ratio of clay is normally around 20% in a good mix.