StrawBale, Self build
Eco Home
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In 2009 Ella and I finished self building our low impact, low cost, strawbale, timber frame, off grid ecohouse. Actually its a cottage - it's simple, small and made of natural local materials. The round wood timber frame is made from local douglas fir and it sits on stone plinths. No cement is used.
The roof is a living roof to the north and oak shakes made from local oak on the front part of the roof, amongst the solar water and electric panels. The floor and ceiling are insulated with sheeps wool. Under floor heating, encased in clay dug from our foundation, provides a giant heat store, and is heated from solar and wood burner, as is the domestic hot water.
The strawbale walls wrap around the round wood frame. They are rendered with lime on the outside and natural earth plaster on the inside, again from clay from the foundations.
This makes an extremely well insulated energy efficient building that requires little heating.