Straw bale construction has seen an explosion in popular interest within the last decade. From a handful of pioneering experimenters, its proponents have grown into an international network of homeowners, builders and designers. A few dozen straw bale buildings stood in 1990. Ten years later, there are several thousand. The popular acceptance of this construction technique has grown so rapidly that straw bale homes built "on spec." are already a reality. Multifamily housing and institutional buildings are leading the way into the next phase of straw bale construction .

If public interest and acceptance continue to grow at this rate, straw bale construction is poised to go mainstream and will be used by production builders within the next decade

. This phenomenal growth has occurred without government subsidy and only grassroots marketing. Construction professionals should pay attention: people like what this material offers, and willful ignorance of it could constitute a lost opportunity. The following pages will get you started and answer the basic questions about straw bale construction: