GEIGER RESEARCH INSTITUTE of SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

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 FREE Straw Bale  Emergency Shelter  Plans

 Builders Without  Borders Straw-Bale  Construction Guides

 The Last Straw -
 The International  Journal of Straw  Bale and Natural  Building


- Promoting natural building, and sustainable design and development, through research, training, education and consulting services.

Other Recommended Resources


Straw Bales for Shelter Video
by Matts Myhrman
10 minutes

This video discusses constructing temporary, transitional shelters out of inexpensive, recycled or reusable materials for people made homeless by natural disaster or economic misfortune. Also covered is how straw bales can be used as a building material for standard housing.

This video is now available for $10 USD as a QuickTime digital downloadable. Five sizes are available at this time: 3.2 MB, 7.3 MB, 35.9 MB, 70.9 MB, and 89.2 MB.

Disclaimer: Some information and techniques are dated. In particular, internal pinning has been commonly replaced with external pinning.

Please order by email from our Contact page.

All proceeds will go towards purchasing building materials for affordable housing projects.


A Model for Affordable Housing Projects: Social, Cultural and Moral Approaches to the Building Process in Navajo Communities
by Dr. Owen Geiger

Dissertation abstract

This dissertation is now available for $20 USD as a downloadable document in Microsoft Word. Please order by email from our Contact page.

A hard copy version can be purchased from Arbor University:

Arbor University
2040 S. Alma School Rd. Ste 1
Chandler, AZ 85248
Email: [email protected]


The Last Straw - The International Journal of Straw Bale and Natural Building

Since 1993, the quarterly journal The Last Straw has been sharing news and developments from around the world about straw-bale construction and natural building. The journal includes diverse articles about projects and up-to-date techniques, written by and about those who design and build with natural materials, research them, live with them—and just plain love them.

Back issues are available. This is a good way to obtain in-depth information on specific topics, because most issues are on a broad theme - construction details, moisture issues, etc.

The first 40 issues are available on a fully-indexed, searchable CD-ROM.

A yearly Resource Guide includes listings of architects, builders, suppliers, etc. by state and country, as well as listings for training centers, associations, networks, books, journals, videos, Internet resources, mail order sources and much more.

The Last Straw

Subscriptions and orders:

TLS Business Office
PO Box 22706
Lincoln NE 68542-2706

ph 402.483.5135
fax 402.483.5161

Email: [email protected]


Builders Without Borders Straw-Bale Construction Guides

The Builders Without Borders (BWB) Straw-Bale Construction Guide was created to meet the growing demand for easy-to-understand instructions on building strawbale homes. It was designed for workshop participants, the communities that work with BWB and anyone who wants to build a comfortable, affordable home. This book is a pictorial how-to guide on straw-bale construction basics that emphasizes low-cost methods to help those in the greatest need for affordable housing.

The BWB Facilitators Guide is the curriculum that accompanies the BWB Straw-Bale Construction Guide. The Facilitators Guide outlines the purpose of each section, activities, discussion topics, technical considerations, time frames and exercises to accomplish the desired goals. Lesson plans on each topic help the instructor convey the concepts in the Straw-Bale Construction Guide.

You can order the BWB Straw-Bale Construction Guides from:

Builders Without Borders
119 Main Street
Kingston, NM 88042
(505) 895-5400
[email protected]


Building Without Borders: Sustainable Construction for the Global Village

edited by Joseph F. Kennedy

Building Without Borders: Sustainable Construction for the Global Village describes the current efforts to create sustainable shelter for the billions currently underhoused or without homes. Through chapters, case studies, tech boxes and profiles, it surveys the pioneering efforts of people around the world to create lives of dignity without destroying their natural habitat to do so. It makes the case for empowering local peoples to create houses for themselves, and advocates for education about sustainable building practices as a means to house the homeless.

You can order this book from:

Builders Without Borders
119 Main Street
Kingston, NM 88042
(505) 895-5400
[email protected]

GEIGER RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
Crestone, Colorado 81131 Email: Contact Information