Tri-State Green Report - Straw Insulation
By: Import User
Updated: April 15, 2008
The sounds of construction are typical. But the building itself is not. These University of Illinois crews are insulating a new maintenance building with straw. "Its going to be very efficient from an energy perspective and its very ecologically sound." 500 bales of locally grown straw will insulate the building. But its not the only green material used. "For instance the concrete has 30% fly-ash in it which is a recycled material after you burn coal and we contracted with local lumber companies for the lumber." Hydraulic coils have been installed beneath the concrete floor heating the building from the ground up.That keeps heating bills to a minimum. Back to the straw, its a lot tougher than you might think. Even that bad old wolf would have a hard time blowing this building down. Steel meshing holds the bales in place to keep the winter chill away. Then the bales are covered with stucco. "The big advantage is that its locally grown and if the building ever gets knocked down in 100 years, then it goes back into the earth and theres no residue." Thats a cycle developers say they can live with for years to come.
The entire "green house" is estimated at 200 thousand dollars. It would have cost the same with traditional materials.
