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Strawbale Wall

Straw bales can be used to make durable structures. Straw bale walls can support a large load, are excellent insulators, and are quick to build. This is a cheap and environmentally friendly building technique. 

The north wall of the greenhouse will be an 8-foot high straw bale wall. We choose straw bale over cob for this wall because straw bale is much quicker to build than cob and the north wall will be the coldest wall, so the insulating properties of straw bale will reduce night-time heat loss.

Straw Bale Building:

Bales of straw are stacked brick-like on the foundation. We will lay plywood on top of the straw bales then run cable through holes in the foundation over the top of the plywood, and tighten the cable to secure the straw to the foundation. To prevent the wall from toppling over, we use an external corset system. Poles of bamboo -- harvested from our campus -- are placed vertically on opposite sides of the straw bale wall. We run bailing twine through the wall to hold the corsets tightly together.

When the straw bale wall is finished, we will cover it with a thin layer of cob plaster.