This local home is constructed using strawbales, a highly sustainable, renewable, and inexpensive building material.

Straw is the leftover, dried stem of such common grain products as rice, wheat, or barley.

Covered in stucco, strawbale homes convey a sense of warmth, permanence, and are exceptionally quiet inside.

Strawbale homes are extremely energy-efficient with a high R-value (or measure of thermal resistance), which can reduce energy costs by as much as 75 percent. As a result, strawbale homes are less expensive to heat in the winter and less expensive to cool in the summer.

Strawbale homes are extremely fire resistant. The tightly packed bales of straw are so dense and covered in stucco or plaster, that there is very little oxygen for fires to combust. Studies have found them to be more fire resistant than most conventional building materials.

Strawbales have a higher resistance to pests because they contain less nutritive value than wood. In fact, there are very few termites that like to eat straw.

In our climate, operable windows as shown in the kitchen and dining area, allow for heat to escape and cool air to circulate on mild days, avoiding the need for energy intensive air conditioning.

The numerous windows and skylights in this home allow for daylighting, the free and healthy alternative to electric lights. The energy-efficient tracklights shown are effective for night lighting needs.