The straw-bale house of Chris Naylor and Debbie Robb. Photo
by Diane Brown.
Building ecologically friendly houses is becoming
popular in Central Otago. Alexandra reporter Diane Brown takes
a look at three different forms of houses and finds out why
their owners have chosen them.
Chris Naylor and his partner Debbie Robb wanted to live in a
non-toxic home that was cheap and quick to build.
After looking at several options, they decided on a
straw-bale house.
While the house did not turn out to be cheaper than a
conventional home, it provided the couple and their five
children with a warm, dry home that "breathes". After 12
years of living in it, they are more than happy with their
decision.
The framework of the house is wooden posts and beams filled
with straw bale. Lime wash and linseed oil provide the
finishes. The outside walls are half a metre thick, and
provide excellent insulation. The interior walls are concrete
block, which help hold the heat in winter and the cool in
summer. The fireplace has a wetback and solar panels, and a
compost lavatory, which has worked well, Mr Naylor said.
"With a compost toilet we use a lot less water, as the
average toilet uses about 40% of a house's water supply each
day."
There is no treated timber or polyurethane finishes, as Mr
Naylor said the toxic chemicals from the gas given off those
products can last for about 20 years.
Mr Naylor and Ms Robb built the house, staying at the site as
soon as they could. The top floor was closed in first, and
the family was eating and living on the bottom floor, with
tarpaulins all around the outside, right into June.
"Luckily, it was a late winter, and it wasn't too cold then,"
Ms Robb said.
The house won the Otago Regional Council environmental award
for innovation in 2000.
Mr Naylor is critical of the Sante Fe-style homes built
today. The wrong materials are used for them, he thinks.
"They should be built of solid masonry, and then we wouldn't
have the leaky home syndrome. This place should last hundreds
of years. It is like the earth, and can breathe. If you give
a house a good hat and good boots, it should last."
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