The first TLS issue in three years has made it to press. We are excited to announce our return to regular production. You can now find your copy in our…
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Category Archives: Issue 62
Reviewed by Jeff Ruppert Making Better Buildings: A Comparative Guide to Sustainable Construction for Homeowners and Contractors by Chris Magwood will be released this Spring and promises to be one of the most…
By Andrew Morrison There has been so much talk over the years around the “straw bale building table” about building codes and how they get in the way of our…
This is a sidebar as part of the Code approval article in upcoming Issue #61. The International Code Council (ICC) and its series of International Codes, carry with their name…
By Elaine Brett Twelve years ago I had never even heard of building with straw. I lived in a four-bedroom colonial house in a subdivision in Maryland. The conventional American…
As an update to this post about the Feuillette House in France, here is a patent in the United States for straw bale construction. It was filed on June 6, 1921…
BIENVENIDOS, we’re the Spanish-speaking straw bale network RCP (Red de Construcción con Paja), or Network of Building with Straw. The RCP network of straw bale construction is a non profit…
Reviewed by Jeff Ruppert Earth Render: The art of clay plaster, render and paints by James Henderson is a refreshing, easy approach to what can become an overwhelming process. As…
By Kyle Holzhueter Editors Note – This article is a feature length pictorial look at the various aspects of natural building in Korea. The full-length article will be in the…
An appendix on Light Straw-Clay Construction was also approved for inclusion in the 2015 International Residential Code (IRC). To date only the states of New Mexico and Oregon have a…
By Martin Hammer October 14, 2013 marked an historic day in the history of strawbale construction and natural building. A proposed appendix on Strawbale Construction, and a separate appendix on Light…
By Chris Magwood An important concept to understand when considering moisture and building materials is adsorption. Moisture in vapor form infiltrates any and all materials. The surface of most materials…
by Chris Magwood The straw bale revival of the 1990s reintroduced builders to a pioneer building method that showed remarkable potential for building in a modern context. The nature of…
A more recent post with a more in depth explanation of the ramification of this code appendix can be found here. On October 14, 2013 the International Code Council (ICC)…
By Michel Couvreux Thanks to the hard work of a few, Natural Hydraulic Lime has become one of the materials of choice for restoration/preservation projects and natural building construction in…
Update: The Feuillette House has been purchased by the Centre National de la Construction Paille. They are still in need of support to complete their plans for creating a visitor center…
By Duncan Lithgow I love open content shared with everyone and improved by everyone. So back in 2006 after I was at the International Straw Bale Builders Conference here in…
The Straw Bale Alternative Solutions Resource is a document prepared by the Alternative Solutions Resource Institute (ASRI) addressing, obviously, bale construction. While the goal of ASRI is to “foster and…
