European Week of building straw (ESBG 2015) took place from 20 to 25 August. Objective: publicize this building material is more and more followers.ESBG for European Straw Bale Gathering. In French, "European days of building straw". This is in Montargis, in Loiret, between 20 and 25 August, was the site of this event dedicated to this increasingly popular building material. To
Straw house: the future of construction?
illustrate this dynamic, a delegation from all over Europe visited a self built house located in Chevry-Cossigny. The latter, which is under construction since March 2013, is shared between two families, the Coste and Favre. In all, nine people will therefore who will live in this house of 200 square meters and whose walls, external as interior, are made of straw (read below).Fire resistanceThe objective of this visit to Chevry-Cossigny - such as the school group Stéphane Hessel, in Montreuil (93), the kindergarten of Boutours in Rosny-sous-Bois (93) and home Feuillette in Montargis (45) - was to demonstrate the advantages of straw as a building material, both environmentally and technically (insulation, cost, etc.). "For many years, we leave the speech called" alternative "to receive official recognition of the virtues of straw by the Construction Quality Agency, welcomes Cedric Daniel, a member of the board of the French Network Straw Construction (PGPR). Thus we can now use the straw as any other construction material in the building. "Convinced, Cedric Daniel continues: "The only obstacle to overcome is that of preconceptions that are always the same: fire, insects and water." On the risk of fire, it is categorical: "The straw to pass all tests of fire resistance. If you point a torch on a bale of straw for construction, it will burn only on the surface. There is no oxygen in the bale of compressed straw, so that the fire can not spread. "
"Best Insulation"
In the field of construction straw, France is also the European country in which this material is the most used. There are indeed close to 3500 buildings in question at the PGPR, mostly individual houses. Straw invites even in public construction projects, as had been the case in particular for the hall of Chaumes-en-Brie, renovated in 2011, making this place the first institution receiving the public (ERP) to use this material in Seine-et-Marne."We seek to convince the public that straw is the best insulator, it is the least expensive of the market and in addition it is 100% natural, therefore environmentally friendly," suggests Daniel Cedric. At his side, Lorenz Mettler, a Swiss architect, confirms and adds: "In the mountains of Switzerland, we even manage to make houses out of straw that do not need heating in winter, so the thermal insulation Important! "
The stuffed home orchards Cossigny
Located in the heart of orchards Cossigny, a farm which has completely banned chemicals, home Coste and Favre family is almost complete. Completion approach and moving is planned for Halloween. "We are on a perfectly healthy soil," says André Coste. So it seemed obvious that the house respects this environmental philosophy, especially as his friend and future neighbor, Eric Favre, is none other than the president of the association Hummingbirds 77, based in Tournan-en-Brie.We are here far from the house of the Three Little Pigs. It is strong and anchored in the ground. Yet what made the interior and exterior walls, it is straw. "For the exterior walls, thick 50 cm, we put straw bales directly explains André Coste. For interior walls, we used the mud, that is to say a mixture of straw and clay that we find on our property. What we wanted is to have a healthy housing without plates BA13 (plasterboard, Ed) that emit volatile organic compounds, which are harmful to health. " He said the benefits of straw in its walls are numerous: "It absorbs moisture, regulates and redistributes it throughout the house." Furthermore, the house hides other ecological virtues of dry toilets and even two tanks of 20,000 m3 of water that will capture rainwater.
