🚀 go-pugleaf

Nick Pine writes:

>Bruno, Thomas A. <tombruno@shout.net> wrote:

>>What about the straw rotting? 

>Not a problem if it's kept dry. 

>>What about rodents?

>Unlikely, if the perimeter wall is put up with mortar. 

>>What about compression of the straw under the pool?

>One of my neighbors has a circular on-ground pool with a "stretchable liner,"
>that makes it 18" deeper than it appears to be from the side... 

Straw bale construction is not really a new idea, although a straw bale 
swimming pool might be...

As part of a "sustainable" technology program, a group of Architectural 
Engineering/Architecture/Landscape Architecture students here at PSU have been
designing and plan to build a straw bale building that will serve as a meeting 
center.  The walls will be covered with stucco.  The R-value of such walls is 
quite high and, as Nick notes, it doesn't rot if you keep it dry.  I've 
occasionally wondered whether it would be cost effective to shrink-wrap the 
bales before installing them to make sure there's no moisture migration, but 
people who know say that it shouldn't be necessary.

Bill Bahnfleth


--
William P. Bahnfleth, Ph.D., P.E.
Department of Architectural Engineering
Penn State-University Park
wpb5@psu.edu