Links
Below are some links that we believe you will find interesting. If you have an idea for another link, please let us know about it by using the contact us page of the site. We love to hear about other sites that people find interesting and worthwhile.
StrawBale.com
StrawBale.com is the world’s premiere source of information on straw bale construction. Anything you have ever wondered about straw bale construction is discussed here. If it’s not, you can always write in and ask your question, either as a blog comment to a post that is similar to your question, or through the “Ask Andrew” option on the site. It is an active blog, and as such, has updates and new information added all the time. The site is literally FULL of FREE information!
LearnStrawBale.com
LearnStrawBale.com is the leading resource for straw bale construction education materials. Check out the “How to Guide” DVD series which includes The How to Guide to Building with Straw Bales – Post and Beam Infill Volume II, The How to Guide to Building with Straw Bales – Load Bearing Construction, The How to Guide to Plastering with Natural Hydraulic Lime Plaster, and The How to Guide to Pouring a Monolithic Concrete Slab Foundation. You’ll also find lots of free tutorials on topics from ways to green your home to straw bale design details to straw bale construction techniques. There’s a ton of FREE information for you to check out. You can even get a set of plans to build your own straw bale needles (custom designed by Andrew Morrison).
StrawBaleWorkshops.com
StrawBaleWorkshops.com is the web’s leading site for hands-on classes. Each year, Andrew teaches around six workshops that will teach you everything you need to know about straw bale construction in an intensely fun and totally comprehensive seven day workshop. He teaches all over the world, from Australia and Europe to the United States and Canada. Check out this site to find a date and location near you. His classes fill up quickly, so check them out soon!
BeYourOwnContractorTraining.com
The Be Your Own Contractor Training is a one of a kind, totally comprehensive training program designed specifically to teach people how to contract their own project. It covers how to manage a job site and sub contractors, how to properly estimate and track your job expenses, how to order materials to save time and money, how to work with banks and building inspectors, and so much more. It is a 7 disc set that will give you the confidence you need to build and contract your own project right and save yourself thousands of dollars in the process. There is nothing else like it available anywhere on the market. Check it out today.
The Last Straw
The Last Straw (TLS) is the international journal of strawbale and natural building that has been in publication since 1993. You can find pdf and hardcopy formats of both back issues and current issues on their website. They also have a calendar of events and classified listings for jobs and apprenticeships in the field of natural building.
California Straw Building Association (CASBA)
CASBA is a non-profit organization whose members are designers, contractors, owner builders, and people interested in straw building. Their mission is: “To further the practice of straw building by exchanging current information and practical experience, promoting and conducting research and testing, and making that body of knowledge available to working professionals and the public at large.”
The International Straw Bale Building Registry
Here’s what the welcome on this site says. I think it says it best! “Greenbuilder.com, The Last Straw Journal, The Straw Bale Association of Texas, and the Development Center for Appropriate Technology, along with a number of regional straw bale organizations, are working together to build a database of buildings constructed using straw bale.” This is a great thing!! You can register your own building (You can even do it while maintaining your privacy), see others nearby who already have a bale home, check out insurance companies in your area that currently (or previously) insured straw bale homes, and find mortgage companies that have loaned on straw bale projects in the past. This is a site that every straw bale home owner should know about. Please register your home! It helps inspire the next person to build with bales.
San Francisco Institute of Architecture
The San Francisco Institute of Architecture (SFIA) is the only 100% sustainably focused architecture school with the longest running and most comprehensive ecological design and green architecture programs in the world. SFIA has been offering green building and ecological design degrees for twenty years as a wholly integrated part of its architecture degree programs. SFIA also offered the first distance learning Green MBA Program. Students at SFIA have the opportunity to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture, ecological design, green building and business administration in sustainability.
No Impact Man
If you haven’t heard of No Impact Man (or if you have), I really suggest you check this blog out. Here’s a guy, Colin Beavan, who has set out to experience life having as close to a zero impact on our planet as possible. His wife and child have signed on as well. It’s fascinating to see just how dependent and impactful the average person really is!
Green Architecture Notes
A blog of green architecture projects the world over. A great place to find inspiration and ideas.
