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Straw Bale Home Design Online Workshop

Taught by Timbo Scurso & Dainella Nartker
March 3 -
March 24, 2024

$449.00

* Tuition is non-refundable

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Location: Online

March 03, 10, 17, & 24, 2024
12pm (noon) to 4pm Denver Time

After receiving a TON of requests, our popular in-person Straw Bale Home Design class is now virtual.
Live instruction and Q&A with Timbo & Dainella.
Join us from the comfort of your own home!

Most people don’t recognize that designing a straw bale house significantly differs from a conventional home. Straw bale-specific details can be easily missed.

Architects new to straw bale and optimistic owner-designers frequently overlook these details. This oversight causes compounding mistakes throughout the build – costing time and money to fix.

The purpose of this workshop is to teach you how to implement straw bale-specific details into your design. Empowering you to design and build a high-quality, energy-efficient, and beautiful straw bale home.

See more details here.

I enjoyed the time and would recommend this instruction to anyone remotely considering an interest in straw bale or any other type of alternative use of building materials. Well worth the small cost

RW Bishop - Workshop Graduate

Is This Workshop For Me?

Are you…

You may have all the books and all the videos, but you still have so many questions.

Or, if you learn better in person, this is perfect to get you started and expand your understanding of the world of straw bale building!

This online workshop was created to help folks just like you!

By focusing on the details of straw bale design, you will gain a firm understanding of how the systems come together and keep moving on your project.

See your plans with a fresh perspective as you grow your knowledge of the design process and how aspects influence one another.

Deep understanding is vital to your construction success.

Looking to add straw bale to your portfolio?

Gain a solid understanding of the nuances and implications of properly executed straw bale design and methods.

Learn details that distinguish it from conventional construction, and be prepared to design your projects with confidence.

Topics Covered

History & Revival of Straw Bale Construction

Straw’s beginning as a building material, the renaissance, and proliferation of where we are today.

Advantages of Using Straw as a Building Material

Learn why to build with bales, where they can and can’t work, cost savings, energy efficiency, environmental impacts, fire resistance, and debunk those urban myths!

Planning Success Before You Start

Evaluate project priorities, budget, performance, schedule, straw bale-specific code details,  guidelines for getting plans passed and permitted, and tips on finding loans and insurance in today’s market.

Design Concepts and Construction Plans

Discover what makes a good bale for construction, bale size and proportions influencing layout, bale orientation, calculating wall heights,  passive solar principles, room orientation, anatomy of house plans, and understand the case for hiring an engineer.

Building Science and Performance

Understanding straw bale as a high performance thermal envelope, insulation, mass, air barriers, moisture, vapor control, and go beyond just the exceptional R-value.

Wall Construction Systems

Explore the nuances between non-load bearing, load-bearing, and hybrids, timber frame structures, panelized systems, and remodeling straw bale walls in existing buildings.

Assembling the Straw Bale Building

Functions and types of foundations, effective window and door framing, box beams, wall and roof junctions, corners, framing multiple stories, plaster preparation, smooth transitions for different surface finishes, and ensuring a long-lasting plaster wall covering.

Integration of Material & Finish Selections

Sorting through options for flooring, roofing materials, interior and exterior plaster systems, wall coatings, hanging cabinets, and value-added window seats.

Mechanical, Electrical, & Plumbing Considerations

Their compatibility with straw bale walls, recommendations and details for venting, ductwork penetrations, electrical installation, lighting design, code requirements, installing plumbing to avoid water damage, water isolation walls, and plumbing’s effect on straw bale design.

Details, Details, Details

Deep dive into the nooks and crannies of straw bale construction’s nuances to improve performance, reduce labor, and manage costs.

What's Included

  • 12+ hours of online, live instructor learning on best practices
  • Lifetime access to our online Straw Bale Home Design course lessons, homework, and supporting documents in the Program area on strawbale.com. INCLUDING future updates and added commentary to the course!
  • "A Modern Look At Straw Bale Construction," instant download eBook ($24.99 value)
  • How-to Straw Bale Construction Instructional Video Series - Instant downloads: Concrete, Framing, Post & Beam, Load-bearing, Lime Plastering ($79.99 value)
  • Straw Bale Details, a 22-page instant download Booklet ($20 value)
  • "Be Your Own Contractor - Instant download videos ($34.99)

Your Mentors

StrawBale.com has been empowering people to build their own beautiful straw bale homes since 2004. Over the years, thousands of people have learned best practices at sb.com 7-day hands-on straw bale workshops and from that process it is clear that with passion, focus, and dedication pretty much everyone can hand craft their own beautiful straw bale home.

Our mission is to create and offer the highest quality resources and instructional material possible, so that you can save time, money, and your peace of mind as you build. We are glad that you have found us and we hope to empower and support you as you go through your personal process of creating your dream straw bale home.

Learn more about Team DeeBo, the next generation caretakers of the StrawBale.com community and resources dedicated to helping you build better with straw bale construction.

Timbo embodies the spirit of the Master Builder of pre-modern times. Rooted as a practical designer and an accomplished builder, his simple designs and finely-crafted details exemplify what is achievable in straw bale construction. He is excited to share his lifelong construction experience and the wisdom of twenty years of specific straw bale design/build knowledge with a larger community.

Timbo Scursso Your Instructor and Design-Builder
Dainella Nartker Your Community & Logistics Lead

Dainella weaves together people, places, and processes to make it easy for community members to access the resources they need for building their dream straw bale home. Her background includes a B.S. in Environmental Science & Experiential Education Training from University of Oregon, a career in the electrical trade, and over a decade of business ownership. She’s delighted to be applying her business skills to grow the craft and awareness of straw bale construction. But, really, it is being witness to and facilitating the empowerment of our community members through their learning process that fuels her most!

What Others Are Saying

Click HERE to View Graduates Gallery

The information was presented in a good flow, from Big Picture to nitty gritty details. Learning from applied experience is always of great value. We appreciated the wealth of knowledge that was represented in you both and your passion and willingness to share it. The decision triangle has come up in post workshop conversations a bunch. Thanks for giving us that vocabulary!
Straw bale for construction
Workshop Graduate
Drawing upon the vast experience from Both Timbo and Dainella. The information was presented in a way that you felt was backed by both hands on experience and from lots of researched knowledge.
Straw bale for construction
RWWorkshop Graduate
Timbo was phenomenal! His wealth of experience and instructional delivery made for an enlightening weekend. Dainella was amazing as well. The lectures were cogent, interesting and relevant. I hope to attend a hands on workshop in the future. Thanks to Timbo and Dainella!
Straw bale for construction
Workshop Graduate
The organization and presentation of the information was stellar. People sometimes complain about death by Powerpoint, but I thought you two nailed the entire presentation. I also very much appreciated the fact that you were willing to say "I don't know." That helped me to know that what you did talk about, you probably knew about, rather than just making up an answer.
Straw bale for construction
Workshop Graduate
The information I obtained regarding the design and build considerations was invaluable. Really good, technical information on building with straw bales. The class was everything I hoped it would be.
Straw bale for construction
Workshop Graduate
What did you find most valuable?... Timbo’s openness and responsiveness to questions
Straw bale for construction
KathyWorkshop Graduate
We both really loved the exchange between the group and the presentation. Lots of different levels of experience and backgrounds made it fun and very informative. Thanks so very much! What a smart group of people from all walks of life!
Straw bale for construction
Workshop Graduate
What did you find most valuable?... Being able to ask questions of someone with over a decade of real-world, straw bale building experience.
Straw bale for construction
Workshop Graduate
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Purchase Details

Your purchase information is protected and secure. We do not share this information.

Deposits and tuition are nonrefundable. Because organizing these events is a significant undertaking with many moving pieces and planning, and involves many people, we maintain this policy. 

That said, if you are unable to attend the workshop location and date that you originally selected, we will work with you to transfer or credit your deposit/tuition towards a future workshop (assuming there is a future workshop.)  You must contact us before the start date of your initially scheduled workshop purchase for this credit to be issued. Your tuition credit would be valid for one (1) year from the start date of your original workshop for events led by Timbo and Dainella before expiring. Alternatively, you can transfer your tuition to another person to attend in your place if that is your preference.

Lifetime Access To Program Area – Straw Bale Resources, LLC (SBR) shall maintain a Learning Center (LC) that may include lessons, forms, worksheets, checklists, and other information specific to this Workshop, the Straw Bale Home Design Course (SBHDC). You shall have access to the SBHDC for as long as it exists. In the event that SBR intends to close the LC or SBHDC, it shall provide customers with thirty (30) days’ notice via their email on file and the ability to download the resources contained in the WLC.

FAQs

All you need to do is click a link to attend. The workshop will be held on Google Meet. (Nope, you do not need a Google account to attend!) If you can surf the web, then you already have all the skills and tech needed :). We will offer an optional meet-n-greet the Friday before the workshop, so you can have a test run and meet folks. 

We recommend being on a larger screen, such as a laptop or desktop, with a reliable internet connection.

Need to use a tablet or smartphone instead? That will work! Some features may be limited, such as you'll need to switch screens to see chat and the speaker instead of having them on the same screen at once. For the best experience, follow the directions in the Welcome Letter in your confirmation email to download the free Meet app. Android here. iOS/Apple here.

No internet? While we recommend an internet connection and being at a screen to view the instructor's presentation and group discussion, you can also dial-in to attend in listen-only mode if needed. 

If you have questions, feel free to contact Dainella at [email protected].

No. Our Straw Bale Home Design workshop is online only at this time.

For other in-person workshops, check out our Hands-on Workshops here. 

March 2024, Denver Time

1st, Friday, 5 pm to 6:30pm: Optional online After Hours to meet others interested in building with bales included.

3rd, Sunday, noon to 4pm: Part 1 + Q&A

10th, Sunday, noon to 4pm: Part 2 + Q&A

17th, Sunday, noon to 4pm: Part 3 + Q&A

24th, Sunday, noon to 4pm: Part 4 + Q&A

That's okay! Sometimes life happens. Pick right up with the class by visiting the online lessons and completing the exercise so you're ready for the next class.

Class sessions are not recorded, so try not to miss the live discussion and teaching!

Each time we meet, there will be ample room for questions. Below is only a guide, as the discussion is always rich and will touch on many many related topics!

Part 1: Design Matters

  • Philosophy
    • What is design?
    • Why does design matter?
    • What makes good design?
  • Process
    • Where to start
    • Budget, scheduling & outcome
    • Resource research & development
  • Creation
    • Working with professionals
    • DIY - Design it yourself
    • Anatomy of construction drawings

Part 2: Why Straw Bales?

  • Straw Bale Considerations
    • History & proliferation
    • Where they can & can't work
    • Advantages of building w/ bales
  • Building with Bales
    • Straw bale characteristics
    • Debunking myths
    • Building science & performance
  • Straw Bale Wall Assemblies
    • Load-bearing
    • Non-load bearing
    • Hybrid & Panelized

Part 3: Structural Design

  • Foundations
    • Fundamentals
    • Slabs
    • Perimeter
  • Walls
    • Framing
    • Bracing
    • Attachment
  • Roofs
    • Common roof types
    • Roof framing & overhangs
    • Insulation & venting

Part 4: Architectural & Utility Design

  • Openings
    • Doors
    • Windows
    • Other penetrations
  • Finishes
    • Plaster & wall coverings
    • Trim & decoratives
    • More finishes
  • MEP Systems
    • Mechanical
    • Electrical
    • Plumbing

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