info from Joiner's Quarterly newsletter

[Becky Myton]

Here are some interesting items from the spring Joiner's Quarterly 
newsletter. Usual disclaimers apply, JQ isn't behind this, etc. I just 
found these interesting!

For those of you working professionally in strawbale, please note several 
requests for inclusion in upcoming JQ builder's sourcebooks. I think the 
e-mail address to contact Joiner's Quarterly is timberframer at maine.com. 
They also have a web site.

Becky Myton
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Excerpted from "Joiners' Quarterly Newsletter:  No. 5, Spring 97."

REAL HOUSES FOR REAL PEOPLE
        1996 has seen a virtual metamorphosis of the Fox Maple School of 
Tradition Building [the instructional arm of the Joiner's Quarterly]. Three new 
buildings, all different in design and materials, comprise the beginning of a 
dynamic testing facility for natural building materials and systems. We found 
that while the cost of materials like clay and straw are negligible, building 
with them is labor intensive to the extreme [sic]. In order to make building 
with natural materials more practical, we need to create new systems which 
balance the labor to materials equation in a way which is cost-effective and 
builder-friendly. While it is fun to get twenty friends together to stack straw 
bales, most contractors work with crews of three to four people. "Sustainable" 
building has to advance beyond concept and theory into workable systems whereby 
any builder can do it.
        Finding the right equipment for the job led to many small steps we'd 
recommend to improve efficiency in working with straw and clay. An old-fashioned
shredder with dull, flat, square tines, made shredding and chopping straw 
manageable, but produced too much dust when used to break up clay. Brickyards 
use a roller machine to prepare clay; labor costs could be reduced by getting 
clay delivered to the site already in fine powderform. Using a sprayer vastly 
increased the efficiency of applying the light-straw/clay finish coat used on 
both the strawbale house pictured here [refers to the Library-Conference Center 
from the June 1996 strawbale workshop], and the straw-panel house built last 
summer. Application by hand, especially at the thickness required to surface 
straw bales, is untenable.
        Ideally, standard sized and R-factor rated panels will soon be available
to builders as the most versatile and usable form in which to use straw. The 
uniform surface of panelized straw can be treated like any wallboard, and takes 
a sprayed-on clay finish coat easily.
        The goal for the coming year here is to work out reasonable, 
cost-effective systems with a viable ratio of materials to labor costs. This by 
no means excludes the owner from the process.
        One of the obstacles to the use of new materials is the shipping 
involved in obtaining new products that are not distributed widely. When ordered
on a per-job basis, builders pay a premium for trucking small quantities. We 
would like to foster a community approach to building, getting people together 
to obtain equipment, share professional consultants, and purchase materials in 
bulk. A clearinghouse to help people source both materials, and professionals to
help with the planning, design, and building process, would be of benefit to the
sustainable market.
        The plan is to continue to explore new materials in workshops here, and 
in the process to figure out the most efficient way to use each material, and 
which materials are best suited to which applications. We will address four 
systems specifically in 1997: wattle and daub, woodchips and clay, light 
straw/clay, and straw/clay blocks.
        The true test of any system is in building real houses for real people. 
In addition to our structured workshops, we plan to build 2-3 demonstration 
projects through the Apprenticeship this year to further develop systems that 
work on-site.
        With the increasing interest in Baubiologie, green architecture, and 
healthy environments in which to live and work, there is no reason why everybody
should not be building with natural, renewable materials. Entry into the 
mainstream, however, can only happen if viable, efficient and proven 
systems-adaptable to a variety of building scenarios-can be worked out. In an 
effort toward this end, Fox Maple School is starting a referral network of 
professional consultants that can work with people to build natural houses. 
Please contact us to add your specialty to the network.

FROM THE GROUND UP
ECO BUILDING SCHOOLS
        Sandra Leibowitz of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the 
University of Oregon has compiled an informative article and survey of 
"Alternative Educational Resources in Environmentally Sensitive Design and 
Building". The article gives an overview of building methods such as cordwood 
construction, sandbag domes, straw bale houses, and solar design. She discusses 
the common philosophies and goals of the schools, educational formats, research 
and publications that are available through them, demonstration projects, 
eco-communities and resource centers.
        The survey attached to the article contains detailed information on 35 
eco-building schools across the country. The three major categories: Program 
Content, Educational Setting & Structure, and Organizational Framework & 
Projects have 18 subcategories each, providing an in-depth profile of each 
school.
        Sandra Leibowitz is a graduate student in Architecture at the University
of Oregon. The information compiled in her article and survey will provide 
learning opportunities for architects, engineers, building professionals, 
owner-builders, environmentalists and natural building enthusiasts. For a copy, 
write to:
        Sandra Leibowitz
        School of Architecture and Allied Arts
        University of Oregon
        Eugene, OR  97403


UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
"Thatching with Jason Morley"
Design seminar: June 23
June 24-28
June 30-July 4
        Jason Morley, runner-up to Britain's Best Thatcher award 1995, and 
thatcher on the renovation of Pembroke Cottage-a 600 year old Open Hall in 
Hampshire, England-will instruct a one-day design seminar, followed by two 
five-day workshops. During the workshops, a thatched roof will be applied to eh 
strawbale minka-style library/conference center built in 1996 at Fox Maple 
School.
        Design seminar $110; five-day course tuition $550; combined design 
seminar & 5-day course, tuition $625; combined D.S. & two 5-day courses, tuition
$995.

Natural Enclosure Systems Workshop Series
Design seminar: June 9
        This one-day seminar with Frank Andresen, a German expert in natural 
infill systems, will explore and discuss the relative advantages of the many 
alternative methods and materials which can be applied to timberframe enclosure,
three of which he will teach hands-on in several four-day courses. Each course 
will complete one wall of the medieval timberframe erected at the Fox Maple 
School during the previous week.

"Wattle & Daub"
June 10-13
        One of the oldest traditional forms of enclosure, often seen in historic
european half-timbered buildings, wattle and daub can last for centuries. The 
workshop covers preparation and installation of the wattles, using materials 
from the local forest, and addresses the labor-intensive aspect of applying the 
earthwork infill.

"Light Straw & Clay"
June 14-17
        Also a centuries-old wall system, light straw and clay is essentially an
adaptation of wattle and daub, using a slip form which translates to less time 
required to infill. Another advantage of light straw and clay is that the 
thickness of the wall can be increased to provide greater insulating value as 
dictated by the local climate.

"Alternative Infill Systems"
June 18-21
        This workshop highlights the selection of matierals appropriate to the 
region in which a building is constructed, and labor-saving innovations. Frank 
will present a variety of systems including unfired straw/clay blocks, reed 
matting, and fibers and binders used in primitive societies. The workshop will 
construct an experimental woodchip and clay wall to test a new system using 
materials available in Maine.

        6-day course including half-day Design Seminar, tuition $625; Design day
only, tuition $110; 4-day enclosure workshops, tuition $440 each; combined TF 
workshop & enclosure workshop, $995; combined T.F. & two Ecnlosure, $1195; 
Combined T.F. & all Enclosure sessions, $1350.

THE NATURAL BUILDER SOURCE BOOK
        Whenever we publish information about a building product made of natural
or renewable resources, we're inundated with calls for more information. In an 
effort to make things easier for everyone, we've committed to publishing a 
sourcebook of building products, companies, and schools dedicated to the concept
of sustainable building. In order to make this a comprehensive resource, we will
be including products, publications, natural home designers, builders and 
architects, schools, and researchers. If you have a product or service that we 
should know about, please send us a description and/or sample for us to review. 
The deadline for submission of materials is June 30, 1997. The projected 
publishing date is October 15, 1997.