Building Construction Technology

Students get hands-on experience with a straw bale house by building a scale model (one inch = one foot) of the same floor plan (PDF) that many other lab classes use. Different materials are used to represent the various building materials in the model.

Styrofoam blocks are used instead of straw bales
Toothpicks represent wooden stakes
Slender finish nails represent 3/8" rebar rods

Students build a model straw bale house using styrofoam blocks instead of straw bales	They stain, score and buff the concrete floor
Toothpicks are used instead of wooden stakes to anchor the bales together	Two wood 2x4s rest on the concrete; the space between them is filled with gravel (not shown) for drainage. Chicken wire eventually covers the bales and is stapled to the wood. Shown with a finish nail, used to represent 3/8" steel rebar
Students finish building the walls and adding window bucks (window frames)	Bond beams (2x4 lumber pieces) are added along the top of the bale walls along with crosspieces. Rebar will be inserted lengthwise and the areas between the crosspieces will be filled with concrete.
Next, students add interior walls...	...and build the roof trusses.
The roof trusses are added...	...and the roof decking is started (top left corner).
The instructor demonstrates how bales are stacked and staked together. Bottom bales are anchored to the concrete with rebar rods that are sunk into the concrete.	Once the bales are stacked and staked, they are trimmed to remove all the "fuzz" and give a smooth surface for the stucco.
The instructor attaches an electrical box (used for light switches and outlets) to a wedge-shaped 2x4...	...then he inserts the wedge with the electrical box between the bales.
The box is ready for wiring. Stucco will eventually cover the hay, wiring and the exposed edges of the box.	How to hang cabinets in a straw house? Use a 1x2 board on the inside with holes drilled through it and a sheet of OSB board, also with holes, on the other side of the bale. Insert all thread steel rods through the bale and anchor them in the two boards. Then the cabinets can be hung on the boards.
Eventually the bales are covered with chicken wire, which is anchored with hairpins