Question: you want to build houses from straw and bamboo, but wouldnt getting the material to build these houses mean chopping down some animals natural environments?, and why is straw and bamboo better then ordinary brick houses?

Natasha Watson answered on 13 Mar 2013:

Hey Constance,

Good question. Straw is a co-product of harvesting, so the straw will be cut down anyway as the harvester cuts it to get the grains for flour. With bamboo, for large bamboo supply companies or companies that make engineered bamboo (this is where the bamboo is processed to make planks and laminates) they will have managed forests which they plant and harvest rather than cut down natural bamboo forests and so disrupt the ecosystems there.

With the second part of the question, It is all about context; there is no ‘one size fits all’ ‘wonder material’ that can do everything. This means that sometimes it might be better to build out of brick; if its difficult to get other materials, or if the only builders available are ones skilled in bricklaying. Definitely in the UK building out of bamboo isn’t best as there are perfectly good materials available in the UK and the bamboo would have had to travel very far. Bamboo would be best if bamboo was an available local material, such as in parts of Asia and South America.

In the UK straw can be used within timber frames to make houses relatively easily as there is straw available locally in most places. Straw is better than brick as building from it means fewer carbon emissions, your house is less suceptible to mould and the air quality inside is better. However, straw has its issues; the walls tend to be quite thick, and there aren’t that many builders who are trained in building with it, however, many people want to learn how to build with straw, so if done properly through twitter and forums, you could get your house built by volunteers!

Hope this answers your question!

Tish