Ensley Street Strawbale ADU

Square Footage: 795ft²

As straw bale construction is still somewhat new to NW building officials, Jim decided to make the straw bales in his house non-load bearing, leading them to use post & beam construction for the main frame of the house. In order to get this project permitted Jim and wife Heather had to get the house professionally engineered, these plans were reviewed once again by a structural engineer on behalf of Tumwater’s permitting office. A key detail to this particular projects final design included substantial sheer support to account for the weight of the house under catastrophic circumstances.

This project was inspired by owner Jim Dawson’s intention to build an ecological Accessory Dwelling Unit in his own back yard to provide additional income while increase suburban density. Guidelines in Jim’s decision making largely focused on overall material life cycle costs; these included embodied energy (energy required to manufacture and transport products to building site), and biodegradability/ reusability of products in the eventual decay/deconstruction of the building many years in the future.

Strawbale is a building technology pioneered in Nebraska due to the lack of trees for home building around the turn of the last century. It has been proven through cold winters of the northern plains Over the last 20 years straw bale homes have re-gained popularity in North America and around the world.

More on the project:

In the building of this home they made a number of other ecological design choices. This included reusing much of the lumber from the deconstructed garage which had sat where the new straw bale house was built, as well as all new wood was FSC certified. In finishing and furnishing lots of other reclaimed furniture, cabinetry, fixtures and other reclaimed details were incorporated. The walls were finished with natural plaster, lime finishes, low VOC paints, and natural wood finish (OSMO hard wax). To increase home heating efficiency and reduce natural gas emissions they chose a condenser boiler hot water heater (M2 emission condenser) for home use and radiant heat floors with increased slab thickness for thermal mass and dark finish; key features included in the passive solar house design.

Foundation walls are Rastra (80% recycled Styrofoam/20% concrete) and all windows are fiberglass framed. Aside from the major design characteristic and details, at the core of this house are the principles of a small footprint and shared space. Living in a smaller home reduces energy consumption and construction costs, both economically and environmentally. Considering the overall lifecycle costs is a major innovation outside of the codes that is important to living a non-toxic life. Jim & Heather chose not to put a fence in between the old house in front and their new home out back, sharing a yard with their new tenants. This contributes to a sense of community and shared resources, truly innovative in an old (and simple) way.