This book explains in straightforward terms the principles of straw-bale building for self-builders, architects and construction industry professionals.
Straw-bale buildings are cost-effective, easy to build and are highly energy efficient, enabling you to design and build beautiful, environmentally friendly buildings. Written with non-experts in mind, this practical book takes you through everything you need to know in an easy, accessible way:
The benefits of building with straw bales
Design principles
Building with straw bales
Finishes: lime and clay plasters
Planning and permission
Building regulations
This revised and expanded third edition brings the book up to date and includes lots of stunning full-colour photographs throughout to illustrate the design and build process. In this full colour edition of the book Grand Designs described as the essential guide to straw-bale building , Barbara Jones uses her years of experience in natural building methods to guide self-builders and architects using straw as a sustainable material for a diverse range of comfortable and environmentally friendly buildings.
Barbara Jones, FRSA, is well known internationally as a pioneer of strawbale building and designer of innovative foundations (including using car tyres). She has been designing and building with natural materials for 20 years; including forming part of the Strawbale tour of the USA in 1999, organised by Judy Knox and Matts Myrhman, that brought European strawbale pioneers to the US. Barbara has also developed a uniquely empowering method of practical training on building sites. She was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by Women in Construction in 2011, and a Woman of Outstanding Achievement Award in 2009. Her practical skills include strawbale building, clay and lime plastering, carpentry and roofing. Barbara runs her own company, Straw Works, designing natural buildings of all shapes and sizes, and supporting self-builders.
Title: Building with Straw Bales: A Practical Manual for Self-Builders and Architects (Sustainable Building)
Author: Jones, Barbara
ISBN: 9780857842282
Binding:
Publisher: Green Books
Publication Date: 2015-05-29
Number of Pages: 240
Weight: 0.8621 kg
Barbara's book is the perfect guide for those who are keen to design and then deliver a build which essentially touches the earth lightly. Her pragmatic approach to the use of straw bales in various guises, to suit either a traditional or contemporary aesthetic, is within the reach of those who have previously designed and built, as well as the non-professional first-timer. Practical advice and guidance throughout the book, on each key aspect of straw bale construction, makes this the perfect accompaniment to inspiring and then achieving success in your own build project.
-- Helen Gribbon, engineer and director of Renaissance Associates Ltd
If you have an urge to build a planet-friendly house that will give you great pleasure and
satisfaction both to construct and to live in, then this is the book for you
-- Cliff Blundell
Barbara Jones is the UK's most experienced straw bale builder. In this clear and practical book, she shares her years of practical wisdom and offers would-be builders, architects and planners a detailed understanding of how and why to build with straw bales.
-- Ben Law, woodsman, author and eco-builder
