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Showing posts with label straw bale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label straw bale. Show all posts

Monday, April 19, 2010

Green Notes: Amerts, Army, Urban Agriculture!

As we enjoy what feels like one of the nicest, calmest springs (oh, to run track again in an April like this!), here are some notes on good green news:

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Amert Construction of Madison is doing some good green work in Sioux Falls. They donated some time and effort to pour the slab for the straw bale shed that will be built as part of the Plain Green Conference next week. (The City of Madison still hasn't gotten back to Amerts on their plan to build wind turbines to greet folks coming to Madison on Highway 34. The city's answer should be heck yeah! But the city is discussing its new wind ordinances tonight... which include a proposed prohibition on small wind producers selling their clean electricity to anyone and cutting into the city's monopoly. Hey, what kind of communism is that?)

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Operation Free veterans aren't the only military folks gung ho about green. The United States Armed Forces are recognizing the connection between resource conservation and national security. The Army has cut water use at permanent bases worldwide by 31% since 2004 and energy use per square foot by 10%. They've spent $100 million on spray foam insulation to reduce losses from air conditioning on tents in Iraq and Afghanistan (wait a minute: air conditioning... in tents?). That insulation investment pays for itself in 90 days. The Pentagon is spending $2.7 billion this year on energy efficiency. And before you shout solar panels are for sissies, not Marines, consider: using less fuel means fewer trips for military fuel trucks, which means fewer targets for insurgents and roadside bombs... which means more soldiers making it home with two good legs on which to run to their kids. (Go ahead, Bob: tell me the whole United States military is a bunch of gullible socialist dupes. Better yet, tell the soldiers you know.)

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This editorial notes how a push for urban agriculture could solve a wealth of environmental woes. Consider that 40% of the energy used in agriculture goes to making fertilizers and pesticides. Sure, those chemicals help you get larger yields, but at the expense of flavor and nutrition. Urban organic farmer K. Rashid Nuri notes with pride the growing number of city folks getting away from that addiction to chemicals and quantity by "growing crops on vacant lots, in abandoned fields, in greenhouses, on balconies, by schools, in prison yards, in nursing homes and in countless other creative and engaging places." He notes numerous benefits to urban agriculture: "economic savings, environmental improvement, lifestyle enhancement, increased exercise and family and community bonding." City folks growing rooftop rutabagas may not look quite like Jefferson's yeoman farmer, but when 4 out of 5 Americans live in town, urban farming is a practical way to, as Nuri urges us, "reclaim our agricultural heritage."

Monday, June 8, 2009

Hay! Straw Bale Construction in Hot Springs

You can't make stuff like this up: A guy named Hay is building a house of straw.

The Rapid City Journal picks up a story from the Hot Springs Star on James Hay's efforts to rebuild his home and shop with straw bales. His old place burned down; his new straw-bale building will be nearly fireproof... really! Think about it: you stack and pack those bales, seal 'em up with stucco, and air can't get in to fuel any combustion.

Air can't get in... that also means the house is darn near winter-proof, with insulation R-factor that Hay estimates to be 40 to 55. (If you live in 2x6 walls, you might get R-20.)

Hay digs the green value of straw-bale construction (as do some Republicans!). Straw is a cheap, renewable local product. Straw bale construction is also a great do-it-yourself project: Hay is building his 1200-square-foot shop/garage as practice for his planned 3000-square-foot house. Self-reliance—Republicans really ought to like that!

Prairie Roots and I (and maybe even Flying Tomato) are pleased to see others recognizing the value of straw bale construction. A lot of folks talk about making money by turning straw into cellulosic ethanol someday when the science makes it cost-effective. I would suggest we could turn our South Dakota straw to gold right now, in straw bale construction! Just think how many houses we could build right here in Lake County from our very own straw instead of imported lumber. Imagine if the thousands you give to big lumber companies for building a house in Lake County could instead go straight into the pockets of local farmers. Turn those dollars over!

Hey, maybe Randy Schaefer and the LAIC should look into making the next Madison TIF house out of straw bales!