No. 74 - The Last Straw

Community Lore No. 74 Spring 2023 Straw Straw Bale Construction Technical

A Look Inside The Community Rebuilds Model

An in-depth look at the structures that have made Community Rebuilds such a successful design/build education program.

Kenny Fallon Jr.October 30, 2023

Interviews Lore No. 74 Straw Straw Bale Construction

In The Weeds with Emily Niehaus

We sat down with Emily Niehaus, the founder of Community Rebuilds, to talk about the beginnings of the organization, environmentalism, human behavior, cult leaders, and the complexities of age.

The Last StrawOctober 1, 2023

Bales Eco-Technics No. 74 Products Straw Bale Construction

One Builder’s View on Natural Building Products

I started out my natural building career with some basic cob construction: the beautiful act of combining clay, sand, and straw to make walls. In its essence, earth building is one of the most accessible methods of building both in terms of availability of materials and the ease of learning…

Jason PronovostJune 14, 2023

Field Notes No. 74 Prefabricated Panels Straw

A House for a Farmer: Storing Carbon with Heavy Timber and Straw Panels in Northern Maine

Alex Henderson of The Last Straw spoke with Raivo Vihman of Haystack Joinery and Andrew Frederick of Croft about their recent collaboration designing and building a house for a farmer in Northern Maine. The project merges timber frame and straw panel construction, creating an innovative hybrid system that solves a…

Raivo Vihman, Andrew Frederick and Alex HendersonJune 14, 2023

Bales No. 74 Straw Bale Construction

Inside Voices: Building a Life in a Community Rebuilds Straw Bale Home

Serah Mead and Gabriel Woytek have worked with Community Rebuilds (CR) in a remarkable number of different capacities over the years. They were involved in the program’s early, most formative years and helped craft the soul of the program. They stirred that primordial soup of infinite possibility and helped generate…

Alex Henderson, Serah Mead, Gabriel Woytek and Delly MeadJune 14, 2023

Bales Did It Fall Down Field Notes No. 74 Straw Bale Construction

Did It Fall Down: An Early Community Rebuilds House

No, Nancy and Eric Morlock’s house in Moab, UT did not fall down. Since building it with Community Rebuilds 11 years ago, it's served as a lovely, comfy, sun-filled home. Let’s take a look! This project is located in: Köppen–Geiger Zone BSk, ICC Climate Zone 5b, in an area with…

Nancy MorlockJune 14, 2023

Field Notes No. 74 Prefabricated Panels

Straw Panel Prototype

Jenna Yu was designing straw bale houses in California when a move back to Rhode Island inspired her to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) insulated with straw. This piece describes how and why she built with Ecococon straw panels.This project is located in: Köppen–Geiger Zone Dfa, ICC Climate Zone…

Jenna Yu and The Last StrawJune 14, 2023

Building Science Codes and Permits Community Interviews Lore No. 74

The Past as Prologue: A Unique Opportunity for Natural Builders

Chris and Lars both cut their teeth in the straw bale community over 20 years ago and have gone on to have outsized influences in the effort to bring natural building further into the mainstream building world. We asked them to talk with us about building code and its influence…

Chris Magwood and Lars KellerJune 14, 2023

No. 74 Prefabricated Panels Straw

Update from Strawtegi on the CO2ttage Project

For more information on Strawtegi's CO2ttage in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. go to: www.strawtegi.org or read the project overview featured in The Last Straw Issue No. 71.This project is located in: Köppen–Geiger Zone BSk, ICC Climate Zone 5b, in an area with 5326 Heating Degree Days and 1803 Cooling…

Susan KlinkerJune 14, 2023

Community No. 74

Editors’ Note

On a misty night over 700 years ago, high in the mountains above what is now Nikkō Japan, a strange and fateful birth took place. A boy –small, sick, and weak– cried in his mother’s arms. This boy would grow to become one of the most influential sculptors, painters, and…

The Last StrawJune 14, 2023

Health Interviews No. 74

For Your Health: Talking About Toxic Materials

For this installment of “For Your Health” we sat down with Roberto Valle Kinloch, the manager of HomeFree, to talk about healthy building, how HomeFree shares its resources, and what’s coming down the pipeline. HomeFree is an initiative of the Healthy Building Network (HBN) that distills complex research on toxicity…

Roberto Valle Kinloch and The Last StrawJune 14, 2023

Community Greenwashing Interviews No. 74

Greenbuild Volunteer Confessional

2022’s Greenbuild Conference and Exposition took place in San Francisco, CA with big name headliners like Jane Fonda and senior governmental employees from the EPA and GSA among many others. Every year this astonishingly large conference attracts thousands of architects, developers, and contractors who come to learn about the latest…

The Last StrawJune 14, 2023

Community No. 74 Uncategorized

Asked and Answered: What is Your Favorite Building?

One is the house I grew up in in Illinois, an early 1900s farmhouse renovated by the architect Harold Zook sometime in the 1930s. It looked like a hobbit house, with all rounded roof edges and cedar shakes, round windows, and a stucco exterior (very rare in that area). It…

The Last StrawJune 14, 2023

A Look Inside The Community Rebuilds Model

In The Weeds with Emily Niehaus

One Builder’s View on Natural Building Products

A House for a Farmer: Storing Carbon with Heavy Timber and Straw Panels in Northern Maine

Inside Voices: Building a Life in a Community Rebuilds Straw Bale Home

Did It Fall Down: An Early Community Rebuilds House

Straw Panel Prototype

The Past as Prologue: A Unique Opportunity for Natural Builders

Update from Strawtegi on the CO2ttage Project

Editors’ Note

For Your Health: Talking About Toxic Materials

Greenbuild Volunteer Confessional

Asked and Answered: What is Your Favorite Building?

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