Sunshine Posted November 26, 2003 Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 I think this is really cool! The Sun Times - Owen Sound Straw Home in Walters Falls! FAST, CHEAP, and Good for the Environment "When the rate freeze comes off Ontario electricity, as the province's newly -installed Liberal government has promised it will, Kara and Tony Willian won't flinch. For just over a year, they've tucked up in a straw bale home they built themselves near Walter's Falls. A three-piece solar panel array stands on a cedar log tower just south of the building's tall south wall." "It provides all electricity they need.... Tony is a carpenter accustomed to working in conventional construction and is preparing to launch his own business in straw bale construction, Down to Earth Homes" "The Willian home is among 20 across Ontario....theirs is one of only five straw bale homes they know of in the Grey/ Bruce region. But both Willians are enthusiastic promoters of the concept which offers cheaper capital construction cost and the energy cost savings which come with 20-inch thick, straw and plaster walls with an estimated, R-40 value, about double that of conventional construction." "It was $1000 for all the straw. That's your insulation. That's your framing," Tony said. It was plastered in four days, so it's very quick, " he said " The way things are changing in the world and in the Earth and in the electricity companies, it's so important to take the load off everybody else," said Kara " With us having solar, we're cutting back on emissions from power plants. With straw we've saved a pretty decent average number of trees and at the same time we're living in a healthier house because we don't have the chemical insulation and we don't have any hazards that traditional houses have," Kara said. The article explains how it was built and how inspectors, mortgage and insurance lenders became enthusiastic supporters. website at www.strawbalebuilding.ca I wish these people the best of luck! They have a great idea that will be one step in helping the earth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley Posted November 26, 2003 Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 good work on those people here's something some friends are involved with on the east coast Developing Sustainable Living Skills and Technologies quote: "We must BE the change we want to see in the world" Mahatma Gandhi Sustainability Tips - Walk don't drive - Always carry cloth bags - Buy compact fluorescent bulbs - Compost - Grow your own food - Make your own jams and preserves - if you can't, buy local produce - Buy organic non GMO foods - Support your local co-op - Landscape with native species - Do NOT!!! use pesticides - Buy 50 % recycled or treeless paper - Ask your local merchants to stock "sustainable" items - Thank them when they do - Insulate your home well - Invest in alternative energies (buy a solar panel) - build a composting toilet - Always carry a travel mug - Buy bulk foods, try as much as possible to avoid packaging - Own a fuel efficient vehicle (no SUV's in urban settings!) - Own a push mower and a shovel - Car share and carpool - Educate yourself and be critical - Then, educate others - Collect rainwater for your garden and lawn - Buy ethically Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 Cheers~ I had the honor in 1998 of working on one of those with Optic-throat-cut (Priscilla) and her brother,I did some of the electrical work,very cool indeed.I actually know a few folks(mostly women) who work on those,but in BC and west coast USA. Thats great,thanks for posting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 I did some work on one of those straw houses once too. Except he was enclosing the straw bales in concrete, making big, fairly lightweight building blocks. And his house was round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooly Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 i like those mudhouses too,, cant remember the name for the material,, but its basically mud and straw mixzed up together and you just lump together walls,,, make a round house,, square,, whatever you like. reallywarm like the straw houses and really enviroment friendly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine Posted November 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 That's great! I never knew about Straw Houses! Learn something new everyday (maybe I should read the newspaper more), it was nice to find a "good news" story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snarfmaster C Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 On the east shore of Kootenay Lake there's a house made of glass bottles --- kinda castle-looking. pretty cool. yay clever people! quote: ... the greatest bottle building of all is on the shores of a lake near a little mountain hamlet called Boswell. David brown was an undertaker living in Red Deer, Alberta who contracted sleeping sickness because of the stress of his business. When his doctor advised him to quit brown loaded his trailer and headed west until he reached Kootenay Lake. Soon bored with retirement, Brown got a job selling embalming fluid and kept the empty bottles. He built his extraordinary house using 600,000 of them. Before he was half-finished, he was deluged with visitors. The two-storey house is 14 and a half metres long, and seven metres wide, and laid out in a cloverleaf patter with circular rooms. Insulation provided by the air trapped inside the bottles is equal to that of a metre of glass-fibre matting. The house reflects the sun and the waters of the lake. Brown died in 1970 but his son Eldon and his wife Diane Johnson have kept the place open to visitors. From May to October, the deluge continues. They are frequently asked: "Doesn't it feel strange living in a place made of embalming fluid bottles?' Eldon will, in turn, ask the visitors what their houses are made of. 'If they say 'wood,' I'll remind them that caskets are made of wood. If they answer 'cement' I'll tell them that's what vaults are made of.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
\/\/illy Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 Read some stuff about this a while back: I was very intrigued. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questcequecest? Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 i was hoping this was a thread about a straw house that fell, in Walters. reminiscent of a big bad wolf. i had a cousin who worked on a straw house for a while before moving to colorado to help build the great stupa of dhamakaya: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la mantequilla del pollo Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 I think that's awesome that Tony and Kara are in the paper! Way to go guys! I've been looking into this kind of housing for a couple of years now, and am looking at taking a workshop. There are many different types of sustainable housing techniques out there including straw-bale, cob, adobe, rammed earth, earth shelter, earth-ship, cordwood, yurts, and the list goes on. You can also live completely off the grid by using solar panels, composting toilets, grey-water systems, roof-top gardens etc... check out these web sites ideasw ecobusinesslinks.com/links/ecohouses.com deatech.com/natural/dealy/freebldg/ everdale.org/(this place is located in Hillsburgh, Ont., and has a couple of straw bale cabins you can go and check out--you can even rent them for the night!) cpros.com/~sequoia/(this ones cool, its got ideas for building your own earth oven, and hottub!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la mantequilla del pollo Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 hey can someone please show me how to post web sites without it saying that i cannot use html in parenthesis?? uhhhhhhh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onthejourney Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 ya!!! right on! I was just going to list some of what chicken butta listed.. here's another site to check out http://www.cobworks.com/ there are tonnes of places you can take courses and pay for it or just work for your food type thing. I think there might even be a place in Scotland. I know there is a course in Oregon for about 7 months. You learn how to do it all from the ground up, including electrical, grey water, etc. One day, oh one day, I hope to build a home like this for myself..for sure the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine Posted November 28, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2003 It sure would be cool to have a home like that. I would love to learn how to do all this kinda stuff. That would be great to work with a crew that built these houses. Hmmm.. so many dreams. So much to do, so little time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im going home Donny Posted November 28, 2003 Report Share Posted November 28, 2003 I lived in a straw bail home in Slocan valley,about a half hour out of Nelson,BC. It was actually a community center built for the folks that lived up the side of this particular mountain side.They rented it out during the winter months. 1700 square feet,2 wood stoves(could have used 3)no hot water or indoor plumbing..well we had a draining tub and sinks with running cold water just not a toilet(the out house view was a stunning cascade of mountains). It had electricity and a switch that you could turn to stop all electrical flow from entering your home while sleeping....funny hippies. It was a three k hike up switchbacks or a short atv run...(I was always scared of the bears and cougars).It was all sided and dry walled in and out...looked and felt like a real place.very nifty place indeed....though we were a little paranoid about fire for sure. I wish I'd seen that bottle house while a lived so close...dang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolarGarlic Posted November 28, 2003 Report Share Posted November 28, 2003 quote: Originally posted by earthfreak: On the east shore of Kootenay Lake there's a house made of glass bottles --- kinda castle-looking. pretty cool. yay clever people! quote: ... the greatest bottle building of all is on the shores of a lake near a little mountain hamlet called Boswell. David brown was an undertaker living in Red Deer, Alberta who contracted sleeping sickness because of the stress of his business. When his doctor advised him to quit brown loaded his trailer and headed west until he reached Kootenay Lake. Soon bored with retirement, Brown got a job selling embalming fluid and kept the empty bottles. He built his extraordinary house using 600,000 of them. Before he was half-finished, he was deluged with visitors. The two-storey house is 14 and a half metres long, and seven metres wide, and laid out in a cloverleaf patter with circular rooms. Insulation provided by the air trapped inside the bottles is equal to that of a metre of glass-fibre matting. The house reflects the sun and the waters of the lake. Brown died in 1970 but his son Eldon and his wife Diane Johnson have kept the place open to visitors. From May to October, the deluge continues. They are frequently asked: "Doesn't it feel strange living in a place made of embalming fluid bottles?' Eldon will, in turn, ask the visitors what their houses are made of. 'If they say 'wood,' I'll remind them that caskets are made of wood. If they answer 'cement' I'll tell them that's what vaults are made of.' YUP! This is one of my fondest memories as a kid. I spent many summers on that lake and have been to that house more times than I can remember. Its turned into quite the tourist colony but is still an architechtural wonder... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blane Posted November 28, 2003 Report Share Posted November 28, 2003 If you're into trippy enviro-architecture, check out Hundertwasser I was lucky enough to piss in his toilets in New Zealand. Grass roof, bottle windows, all made by local artists using local materials. Amazing. For cool Sustainable Development info (including great jobs!) here in canada, visit www.iisd.ca. HUNDERTWASSER TOILETS: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la mantequilla del pollo Posted November 28, 2003 Report Share Posted November 28, 2003 I can't seem to get into that web site quote:www.iisd.ca . It just says that the page cannot be displayed. Can anyone help me out, as I REALLY want to check it out. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Gruvsten Posted November 28, 2003 Report Share Posted November 28, 2003 i think this is the first time i've seen "Walters Falls" in print besides the sign leading in to the village....weird. next is Bognor and Dornoch eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted November 29, 2003 Report Share Posted November 29, 2003 quote:Originally posted by chicken butta: I can't seem to get into that web site quote:www.iisd.ca . It just says that the page cannot be displayed. Can anyone help me out, as I REALLY want to check it out. Thanks. Try: http://www.iisd.ca/ (The problem was that the URL came at the end of a sentence, and the period was taken as part of it.) Aloha, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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