50 straw bale house plans

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50 Straw Bale
Plans
For A (sq.ft. inside)
Great
"How 1. 140 sq. ft.
To" (Note, The photo left is the interior of Daves "Eyelash" plan. He is a genius) Vault
DVD 2. 275 sq. ft.
Please Hello, Robert here.
Cottage w/
Click Loft
Here! My primary purpose in putting up this site is to introduce my straw bale house 3. 314.16 sq. ft.
plans. The scroll bar on the right lists plans by size in square feet (inside). Click a link Pie (pi)
to see plan views (or elevations) of concept houses. Most of these plans can be built with 4. 375/
For more than one roof design...thus very different elevations are possible and may be 480 sq. ft.
Concrete shown. Courtyard
Slab
5. 440 sq. ft.
Click
Notice that the average size of these plans (about 1000 sq. ft. inside) is small Guest
Here!
by North American standards. My initial interest was in designing small, efficient, 6. 450 sq. ft.
Straw Bale houses that are easy to build (owner/builder friendly), do not require a Yin
mortgage (pay as you go), are expandable (as you have the money), and are fun to build 7. 480 sq. ft.
and live in. Some of my early designs met these standards, others did not. Now I am
Compound
spending more time designing larger houses for people who want their dream home.

An underlying assumption is that as world population increases, as man and nature

continue to destroy existing homes, and as resources are depleted, demand will increase
for small (and larger) low cost, energy efficient housing...and that many of you out there
will want my plans and my design services.
1. 612 sq. ft.
Round/.......
Most of these
Octagon
plans are elev.
conventional in
that they include 2. 612 sq. ft.
the rooms and Yang
spaces normally 3. 630 sq. ft.
associated with Coil
western housing, 4. 660 sq. ft.
(bedrooms,
Green
bathrooms, kitchens, areas for laundry and utilities, etc). When planning for alternative
5. 670 sq. ft. Eye
lifestyles, these spaces can be used for other functions without substantially altering the
6. 680 sq. ft.
plan. Areas designated for washer/dryer, utilities, or bathrooms, for example, can also
be used for storage or closets, always in demand. Because the plans are small, Guest
public areas (living, dining, kitchen), are often combined in an open plan, or
share space.

Considerations
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50 straw bale house plans

1. 705 sq. ft.

In general, I have tried to accomplish the following with each plan. Keep in mind that a good plan is a subtle blend of compromises, the most important Diamond....
elements (to you), in balance. 2. 750 sq. ft.
Square
● Small. To avoid mortgage payments, pay as you go, minimize resource use, and keep construction simple (and fun), it helps if the plan is small.
Most of these plans are designed as small as possible and still be livable...always with the option of "blowing them up" 100% or more for more space
in all use areas. A "basic living unit", consisting of a combined living, dining, kitchen, a small bath (with utilities near by) and one or two bedrooms,
requires between 350 and 800 sq. ft. of inside floor area.
1. 812 sq. ft.
Square......
● Expandable. The basic living unit is a useful concept, particularly, if the plan is also expandable. Some of these living units must stand alone (not 2. 836 sq. ft.
easily expandable), others allow the addition of a room or two, and others are designed as two or three part expansion projects. Melon
3. 850 sq. ft.
● Plumbing Efficiency.Most plans include some kind of plumbing wall Habitat
or plumbing core to keep equipment close together, runs short, and construction 4. 850 sq. ft.
simple. Until these plans are actually build, it is difficult to say how well this goal SHAIL
has been met. Soon, I will meet an experienced plumber who shares my
perspective and has the talent to see problems and make corrections from the 5. 868 sq. ft.
plans. Let me know if that person is you. Urban
6. 890 sq. ft.
● Passive Solar. Generally (in moderate climates), for good passive solar
Urban
7. 895 sq. ft.
performance, the prefered plan is somewhat longer on the east/west axis,
Spiral
providing good exposure to the low winter sun, with a somewhat higher
elevation
percentage of glazing on the south face, less on the north, and less again on the
east/west walls to prevent heat build up in summer months. Additional glazing enlargement
on the south face should be balanced by additional (exposed) thermal mass
inside the house. Rooms with more exposed thermal mass (like bathrooms and
kitchens) are more effective on the south face than say bedrooms with low mass
furnishings (bedclothes, carpets).
1. 900 Why
You wilI see from my plans that I honor the above formula, but fairly often break away into something "less efficient". My excuse is that I believe a 2. 912 Modular
well designed, well build "superinsulated" house can make some passive solar concessions, put more weight on other considerations and still be a
"good" house. 3. 935 Urban
4. 940
● Super Insulated. Solar heating and cooling, passive solar design and solar tempering is less an issue when the house is superinsulated. Properly NewMex
elev.
done, superinsulation (with accompanying sealing), greatly reduces the total amount of heat required from solar and supplemental sources. A poorly
insulated house could use huge banks of south facing windows and accompanying thermal mass to provide part of the enormous heat requirements. 5. site
With the well build straw bale (superinsulated house), solar measures can be modest and get the job done. If the plan looks too solar...maybe it is. Overman
east
6. 990
Earthship

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50 straw bale house plans

● Straw Bale Module. Most plans are based on either a 3 foot (two string) 1. 1030
or 4 foot (three string) bale module, with design decisions (outside wall DAVID.....
dimensions, window size and placement for example) strongly influenced by this east
module. Most plans can be designed and built using either three or four tie bales west
(with window size and placement modified accordingly). A 12 foot wall section south
for example, can be constructed with 4 three foot bales, or three 4 foot bales. In north
the real world of straw bale home building, the bale module often gets ignored
elev.
for other considerations.
2. 1034 Eyelid
3. 1036 Round
● Load Bearing Option. Generally, the smaller and simpler the plan, the 4. 1042 Habitat
more likely one has the option of using load bearing construction (which may be 5. 1065 Clover
less expensive). As size and complexity increase, it becomes more likely that post 6. 1075 Octagon
and beam construction will be required. Often, a hybrid system is possible, with
post and beam or stick construction on the south wall (with more windows), load
bearing on the north wall (assuming few and small windows), and maybe a center
suport post and beam system.

● Symmetry. Many factors influence house design including for example,

education, class, custom, intuition, art, science, tradition, culture, code, (you
name it). Within these constraints, designers have the opportunity to bring
● 1102 Ranch
something personal to their work. Symmetry is a theme that runs throughout
● 1135 Ranch
mine. My underlying assumption is, if a plan looks good (to me), feels good,
works well, in plan, energy will generate and flow well, and the house will be ● 1144 Triangle
enjoyable to live in. For me, in most cases, this means symmetry. The shape, the footprint is the starting place for me, with use areas expected to fit ● 1152 Cube
into this matrix. In most cases, use areas gracefully adjust, in respect to the overall form. Obviously, there are other ways to design a house... ● 1190 Eyelash

Feedback
I am looking for feedback, primarily on my Straw Bale Design Concepts...to help me determine where to go from here with my design work...and with this
site in general...what are the community needs that can be met in part from this site. Thanks...Robert.
1. 1202 Octagon
2. 1205 Ranch
3. 1210/1550
Greg
4. 1225 Florence
5. 1232 Sanctum
elev.
6. 1250 Student
7. 1250 Arrow

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50 straw bale house plans

1. 1300
(Grahame
Ross)
2. 2nd draft
(mainfloor)
3. 1300
(basement)
4. 1300 (south)
5. 1334
6. 1374
Vitruvious

1. 1404
Ranch
2. 1470 Paul/
Alice
3. 1479Wanda

1. 1500 Green
2. 1800 EYE
3. 1850 Vicki
1850 Vicki
4. 1900 sq. ft.
Octagon
5. 2000.4bedroom
6. 2200, Terry
7. Trish
8. 2970 El "L"
9. 3500 El "L"
Carolyn Perry
3500 El "L"
secondfloor
10. 4000 sq. ft.
CROSS
11. 10,000 sq. ft.
B@B

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50 straw bale house plans

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50 straw bale house plans

Webmaster and Straw Bale Design: Robert Andrews, 3223 Urban Street, Pueblo, Colorado, 81005, 719 406 1901
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