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Most modern energy efficient homes achieve a measure of evergy efficiency through the use of layers of tightly sealed plastic wrap to prevent water vapour from getting into the walls and condensing. It is like living in a plastic bag. These homes incorporate expensive technological solutions to change the air in order to get the trapped water vapour out of the house and to make living in a plastic bag "healthy". These homes require a lot of energy to manufacture the materials and the systems and consume energy to keep their occupants "healthy".
What if there was another way?
Straw bale homes are not wrapped in layers of plastic. The plaster used on straw bale walls is vapour permeable allowing water vapour to slowly migrate through the walls. This slow migration and the moderating effects of the straw and the plaster prevent condensation allowing the moisture to be released to the outside air.
Straw is 37% carbon which is fixed from atmospheric carbon dioxide by the plant. 1 kg of carbon when combined with oxygen produces 3.66 kg of carbon dioxide. An average sized straw bale house using 750 straw bales at 25 to 35 lbs each (around a 2000 square foot house) therefore fixes enough carbon to make over 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide. That is 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide which would otherwise go back into the atmosphere when the straw was burned or decomposed in the ground.
CMHC found in a 2001 study that straw bale homes had an average energy savings of 21% over similar local conventional homes. The energy savings on the 2000 square foot home in the paragraph above assuming an average Canadian natural gas heating bill of around 135 GJ of gas would result in an annual reduction in the production of carbon dioxide of nearly 1500 kg.
Straw bale homes make a great deal of sense for you and for the environment.
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