From BWBNewsletter at builderswithoutborders.org Thu Jan 22 15:52:33 2009
From: BWBNewsletter at builderswithoutborders.org (Builders Without Borders newsletter)
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:52:33 -0700
Subject: [BWBNewsletter] Eco-house during Inauguration Week
Message-ID: <63EC890A233B78606F0740BD@d00-64-106-126-253.dhcp.unm.edu>
The Strawbale Eco-house, built by BWB volunteers near the Capitol
Building in Washington DC last Spring, has lived on beyond the supposed
closing of the exhibit in October. The popular demonstration
structures will be visited by some portion of the millions of people
coming to the capital for the Inauguration of Barack Obama. Catherine
Wanek, Co-Director of BWB and the principle organizer of the Eco-house
project, and Pete Fust, horticulturist and natural builder, will be on
hand at the Eco-house to help explain and interpret natural building
and sustainability for the public, during the Inauguration week. The
press release below gives more details.
The Eco-house will remain on the terrace of the US Botanic Garden until
early February. It will then be moved to a site outside of Washington
DC, where it will continue to provide information and inspiration, to
an admittedly smaller group of visitors.
Keep an eye on the BWB website for announcements of upcoming and
ongoing activities.
Derek Roff, Co-Director
Builders Without Borders
We apologize if you received this email in error. If you wish to
unsubscribe, you can do so here:
Straw-Bale Eco-house Welcomes
Washington D.C.?s Inauguration Visitors
A colorful straw-bale ?eco-house? at the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) on
the National Mall invites the millions of Americans expected to visit
Washington D.C. in January, to experience traditional American
?green-building? techniques.
The eco-house exhibit, which demonstrates adobe, bamboo, and straw-bale
construction, was created by Builders without Borders (BWB), a global
network of sustainable builders, as part of the USBG?s Summer 2008
exhibition ?One Planet ? Ours!?
The display is scheduled to be dismantled and moved in February, so BWB
has commissioned a ?plein air? artist to paint the Eco-house in its
current site -- on the east side of the Botanic Garden, and across
First Street from the U.S. Capitol. David Farrell, a painter and
sculptor from New Mexico, will set up his easel on Jan 21, 22, and 23,
to preserve the scene in several studies and paintings.
Builders without Borders created the Straw-bale Eco-house to showcase
attractive and energy-efficient building strategies appropriate for
homes and commercial buildings, for city or country, and nearly any
climate.
The Eco-house walls are built with straw bales, plastered on the
outside with a bright yellow lime plaster, and topped with a
silvery-gold standing-seam metal roof. Designed to harvest sunlight,
the glass front doors face the winter sun.
A recent revival of the use of straw bales for home insulation has
shown great promise to reduce heating and cooling costs. A cheap
by-product of grain production, an 18? straw-bale, plastered on both
sides, can attain an insulation value of R-30 or more.
The mass of the interior plaster and stone floors provide thermal
storage, for added comfort. Bale walls are also exceptionally
soundproof ? close the doors, and the urban noise fades to a murmur.
Plastered straw bales also stack up to make structural walls. Their
strength has been tested and proved in the laboratory, as well as in
historic homes built by pioneers. Some surviving homes in the Nebraska
sandhills have stood solidly for more than a century.
The BWB Eco-house demonstrates this load-bearing technique, also known
as ?Nebraska Style.? Visitors to the USBG can walk inside, feel the
smooth earthen plasters, and look through a "truth window" that frames
a section of the straw-bale wall.
See the straw-bale eco-house in person at the U.S. Botanic Garden in
Washington, D.C. through January 2009. Or visit it online at
www.builderswithoutborders.org.
About the United States Botanic Garden (USBG):
The United States Botanic Garden, dating from 1820, is one of the
oldest botanic gardens in North America. Administered through the
Office of the Architect of the Capitol, the USBG is part of the
Legislative Branch of the Federal Government. The Garden informs
visitors about the fundamental value of plants to the well-being of
humans and our planet, and highlights the diversity of plants
worldwide. Located on the National Mall with nearly a million visitors
annually, the USBG strives to demonstrate sustainable practices for
individuals, organizations, and institutions. Learn more at
www.usbg.gov