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 Degree Days.
We have passed our first framing and insulation inspections for the Strawtegi CO2ttage project!
The system is proving to be fast and easy to frame. One framer built the whole house in the shop in about 40 hours, leaving the panels open for stuffing. We are able to fill straw quite densely, and are documenting all along the way including four mini truth windows where we can visually monitor for settling over time. We are also documenting the different types of straw we used: coarse barley/wheat mix vs. fine 100% wheat chopped straw.
Each panel is made by hand by compressing chopped straw into the frames and hempwool into the areas in the frames around the window openings (left). The first permitted chopped straw panel building in the U.S. is framed up, awaiting its cladding (right).
Susan is a passionate advocate for mainstreaming natural building practices. She has designed and built a passive solar home in Tetonia, Idaho, and is currently building a straw panel ADU in SLC. She is a contributing author of 2 books, The Art of Natural Building, 2015, and Building Without Borders: Sustainable Construction for the Global Village, 2004. On a daily basis, Susan works in arts education, creating opportunities for students and community members to engage in the arts as a mechanism to develop a rich community life. She is a founding member of Strawtegi, which is focused on promoting and building naturally built homes for urban applications.
