The Accidental Straw Bale

Homeowners

Presented by Brenda and Chuck Horton

Twitter: @BrendaHorton -- Facebook: facebook.com/BrendaTelloHorton

Fan Page: facebook.com/HwareFB -- blog: www.hware.com/blog -- email: info@hware.com

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Green Festival Rocks!

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Garbage Turned into Art.

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S.F. Green Festival After Party at Temple.

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Outline

•  The aesthetic beauty of a straw bale home.

•  The technical details of straw bale home.

•  How building and living in a straw bale
home has shaped our lives.

•  Q & A Time

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Brenda and Chuck Horton

•  Moved to the Foothills from the Bay Area in 2000.

•  Own an online business training and software company

called Hware (HumanityWare).

•  Use virtual technologies to run business from straw bale

home.

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Stone path and deciduous wisteria 
vines leading to our entrance.

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This is where we run our company

Hware.com, HumanityWare.

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 Luna Sagrada - Sacred Moon.

During the Winter season,

we love to sit in the Great
room and watch the moon
rise as it lights up the
entire room.

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.
Entrance to the Great Room.

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Great Room

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Great Room

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 Reclaimed trusses from 
lumber mill in Forest Hill
.

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Concrete floors unstained and unsealed. The
color came from leaves and native red soil.

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It’s a GREAT room to have parties!

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Views from Great room.

Autumn leaves 2010

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Sunrise from Great Room.

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Neighbors walking by the Great Room.

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Kitchen and Great Room.

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Open Kitchen

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Our neighbor hanging 
out by kitchen window.

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Curved walls and built-in niches
throughout.

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Reclaimed sinks and doors throughout.

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Compost

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Preparing our organic garden rooftop that 
houses our well equipment.

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2.25 miles of hiking trails to take breaks from sitting 
in front of our computer monitors all day.

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Hiking on our trials through the Manzanita.

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Stunning Sunsets

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Breathtaking Sunsets

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And the Bear River near by to relax.

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Sustainable Building
Techniques

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 Sustainable Building Techniques

•  Straw Bale Exterior Walls

•  Strawboard Interior Walls (Prestowall)

•  Earth Plasters with Lime Plaster & Lime Wash for Exterior Walls

•  Earth Plasters with Mica/Lime Texture for Interior Straw Bale Walls

•  Clay and Wall Paints from Bioshield Paints (no VOCs) for Interior
Strawboard Walls

•  No VOC Stains from Bioshield Paints

•  Post & Beam Framing

•  Roll Form Metal Roof (life time roof, fire safe, no waste of materials
or package)

•  SIPs (Structurally Insulated Panels) for Roof Structure

•  Insulation - UltraTouch natural cotton fiber insulation

•  Slab on Grade

•  Stain Concrete Slab, and Flagstone for Floors

•  Radiant Heat

•  Passive Cooling with central Evaporative Cooloer

 Sustainable Building Techniques

•  Active Solar System – Uni-Solor Roll on Photovoltaic Panels, Charge
Controller, Inverter & Batteries

•  Passive Solar Design

•  Recycled Wood for Trusts, Engineered Wood

•  Pressure Treated Wood - ACQ (Ammonia, Copper and Quaternary
Ammonia) not CCA - (Chromated, Copper, Arsenate)

•  Local Crushed Gravel Driveway, DG, Pavers and Flagstone

•  Loewen Windows made from Certified Sustainable Forest Products (see
Loewen Enviro Statement)

•  Day Lighting with Solar Tubes and Skylights

•  High Efficiency Lighting

•  Grey Water Plumbing for future Grey Water System

•  Local Artisans

•  Local Furniture

•  High Efficiency Appliances

•  High Efficiency Fireplace – Rumford Fireplace

•  High Efficiency Windows

Foundation

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It All Starts with Raw Land

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Radiant Floor Main Lines

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Laying the radiant floor heating.

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Pouring the Slab

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Finishing the Slab

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Keep Slab Wet for 2 Weeks for
Better Curing and Finish

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Framing

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Post and Beam Framing
Entry & Great Room

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Building Rumford Fireplace

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Garage & First Floor Framing

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 SIPs
Structurally Insulated
Panels

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Stacks of SIPs

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SIPs Installing on Roof

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SIPs Installing on Roof

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SIPs Installing on Roof

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SIPs from Inside

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Straw Bale

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The Bales Arriving

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The first bales installed.

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Working those Bales

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Straw Bale from Inside

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Preparing the Bales

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Interior Bale Wall

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Exterior Bale Wall

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Bales from Interior

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Exterior Bale
Wall

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Bales Installed and Ready for
Earth Plaster

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Electrical in
Straw Bales

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Typical Wall
Section

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Earth and Lime Plaster

Earth Plasters with Lime Plaster & Lime Wash
for Exterior Walls

Earth Plasters with Mica/Lime Texture 

for Interior Straw Bale Walls

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Putting on Earth Plaster

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Earth and Lime Plaster

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Earth and Lime Plaster
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Earth with Mica/Lime Texture
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Lime Washing
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Limewww.hware.com/sb

Washing

 Every
Straw Bale
Home

Got Have
A Truth
Door

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Strawboard Interior
Walls (Prestowall)

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Prestowall - Strawboard
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Blocking for Radiant Floor Zone

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Roll Form Roofing

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Roll Forming the Roof Panels
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Installing Uni-Solar Panel

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Installing the Metal Roof

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Installing the Metal Roof
with Uni-Solar Panels

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The Solar System

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Uni-Solar PVL-128 Photovoltaic Panels on our roof

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 Charger Controllers

Solar Boost 50s

Solar Panels

Combiner Boxes

Solar Equipment

Inverter
Solar

Trace SW4024
Circuit
Ac
Breakers

Disconnect
Xantrex Grid Tie

DC Disconnect

Outback Power
Panel

2 - Deep Cycle Forklift Batteries

(1085 amps)

Container

2 - Deep Cycle Forklift Batteries

(1085 amps)

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 Solar System

•  Photovoltaic Panels - 24 Uni-Solar PVL-128, Field

Applied Flexible Roofing Laminate Photovoltaic Panels

•  Inverter - Trace SW4024, Advanced Sine Wave Power
Conversion Center

•  6000 Watt 120 / 240 Volt AC
Autotransformers, used for running our well

•  Batteries - 2 General Battery 85-21 1055ah Industrial
Batteries - 12v Set

•  Outback Power Panel

•  Charge Controllers - 2 Solar Boost 50

•  2 Combiners

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Passive Solar Design – Block Summer Sun

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Passive Solar Design – Let Winter Sun In

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Other Special Features

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Reclaimed Wood

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UltraTouch Denim Insulation

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 Sunny
enjoying

Our Rumford
Fireplace

rumford.com

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Concrete
Floors

Stained by
Mother
Nature

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 Reclaimed
Doors

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Reclaimed
Sinks
and
Mirrors

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Buffalo Grass

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Roll Formed Metal Roof

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Flagstone in Sand Paths

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 The Model
and Evaluations

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Side Evaluations

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Front & Back Evaluations
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The Model

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Resources and Q&A

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 Resources - www.hware.com/sb

Website about our

home:



this slideshow,
links to resources,
pictures,

floorplan,

elevations,

details,

solar system,

and much more

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