Straw Bale Construction

Rather than start with any "grass root" information, I started to look at a journalistic resource on this subject, http://www.ems.org .

EMS.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing most current information on environmental issues. The EMS staff and board consist of former journalists and environmental policy experts with years of experience. Their recommendations and findings are of prime quality.

I was particularly interest on what they had to say on Straw Bale Construction. EMS indicated the following:

Straw bale houses can be built with unskilled labor,
Straw bale construction can reduce energy costs 15-25% for the life of the building compared to wood-frame buildings with fiber glass insulation. (This may be a VERY conservative figure.)
If you want good sound-proofing, look no further.
Many structures built using Straw Bale as a material are still standing today.
Straw Bale Construction do NOT support termites.
Straw Bale structures are highly fire-resistant, because compressed bales prohibit the circulation of oxygen.
Straw Bale structures are more flexible and can take earthquakes better than conventional structures.

There are many other advantages. Please visit this link: http://www.ems.org/straw_bale/economics.html to obtain additional information.