Hello everyone,
We are still at the very beginning of planning our future house.
The bank is currently reviewing the possible loan amount, and once that’s settled, we will take a closer look at the zoning plan / building permit and start considering the general design of the house. After that, we will begin searching for a home construction company.
The first important decision will be about the material for the shell of the building:
- Solid construction (e.g., masonry or concrete)
- Timber frame with appropriate insulation
- Timber frame insulated with straw (straw bale house)
We are quite fascinated by the idea of a straw bale house because there are hardly any other building methods with such a good ecological footprint during the construction phase. The insulation provided by the 40 cm (16 inches) thick straw bales alone is very effective and should meet KfW40 standards (yes, we want KfW40, so please no discussion about that here).
According to our current research, the costs are not much lower than other options, but it does offer the opportunity for a lot of DIY work, which we are excited about!
The house will have one full story and an attic with a rather low knee wall (50 cm (20 inches), maybe a bit more). The zoning plan/building permit doesn’t allow for more.
Does anyone here have experience with a straw bale house or something similar?
Best regards,
Specki
We are still at the very beginning of planning our future house.
The bank is currently reviewing the possible loan amount, and once that’s settled, we will take a closer look at the zoning plan / building permit and start considering the general design of the house. After that, we will begin searching for a home construction company.
The first important decision will be about the material for the shell of the building:
- Solid construction (e.g., masonry or concrete)
- Timber frame with appropriate insulation
- Timber frame insulated with straw (straw bale house)
We are quite fascinated by the idea of a straw bale house because there are hardly any other building methods with such a good ecological footprint during the construction phase. The insulation provided by the 40 cm (16 inches) thick straw bales alone is very effective and should meet KfW40 standards (yes, we want KfW40, so please no discussion about that here).
According to our current research, the costs are not much lower than other options, but it does offer the opportunity for a lot of DIY work, which we are excited about!
The house will have one full story and an attic with a rather low knee wall (50 cm (20 inches), maybe a bit more). The zoning plan/building permit doesn’t allow for more.
Does anyone here have experience with a straw bale house or something similar?
Best regards,
Specki
S
Sebastian Acht12 Jan 2022 20:12@Chris Große Unfortunately, I have the same issue as you and cannot send private messages. However, if you search for my name + building service on Google, my listing with the phone number should appear. Feel free to contact me.
Chris Große schrieb:
We want to build our house as a load-bearing straw bale house Oh, I just looked into that and even learned something new. Many thanks for that!
Chris Große schrieb:
However, the topic of KfW funding came up, and so far we were set on KfW 55. This standard will expire on 31.01.22 and will be discontinued without replacement. That is unfortunately phrased poorly: only the funding will be discontinued (because the funding goal has been reached); the "Effizienzhaus 55" standard itself is still very much current.
Chris Große schrieb:
Since I am new to this forum, I cannot send you a direct message. Could you perhaps contact me about this? Unfortunately, that applies equally in both directions.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
S
Sebastian Acht13 Jan 2022 00:18@Chris Große
As far as I know, and unless there have been changes in the last six months, the construction of load-bearing straw bale houses in Germany is only allowed with a special permit.
I would recommend applying directly for KfW 40+; if the values after completion are not sufficient, the application can be adjusted later.
Unfortunately, we only applied for KfW 40, and regrettably, an upgrade afterwards is not possible.
As far as I know, and unless there have been changes in the last six months, the construction of load-bearing straw bale houses in Germany is only allowed with a special permit.
I would recommend applying directly for KfW 40+; if the values after completion are not sufficient, the application can be adjusted later.
Unfortunately, we only applied for KfW 40, and regrettably, an upgrade afterwards is not possible.
S
Seppl's Häusle19 Jan 2022 12:19Hello everyone,
Interesting post, and a lot has already been said.
Last year, I also explored the idea of building a straw bale house but ultimately decided against it.
We wanted something a bit simpler and chose to use a proven concept from a company. By chance, we came across a construction method with a double-layered timber frame and have decided to build that way.
The interior insulation they use is cellulose, which is basically equivalent in performance to straw. Compared to straw, the advantage is a thinner wall structure that meets KfW 40 standards. Our plot is quite small, so every centimeter (inch) counts.
The FASBA is a bit stingy with information, too.
If you want to dive deeper into the topic before building: there is a holiday home made with straw bale construction in the Vulkaneifel region. You can visit to get an idea, and the owner built the house himself and explained a lot about the structure and construction method. We were very impressed by the indoor climate and the concept, but in the end, it’s nice to have a company with a reliable system we can count on during construction.
Best regards and good luck with your build—don’t let yourselves be discouraged.
Interesting post, and a lot has already been said.
Last year, I also explored the idea of building a straw bale house but ultimately decided against it.
We wanted something a bit simpler and chose to use a proven concept from a company. By chance, we came across a construction method with a double-layered timber frame and have decided to build that way.
The interior insulation they use is cellulose, which is basically equivalent in performance to straw. Compared to straw, the advantage is a thinner wall structure that meets KfW 40 standards. Our plot is quite small, so every centimeter (inch) counts.
The FASBA is a bit stingy with information, too.
If you want to dive deeper into the topic before building: there is a holiday home made with straw bale construction in the Vulkaneifel region. You can visit to get an idea, and the owner built the house himself and explained a lot about the structure and construction method. We were very impressed by the indoor climate and the concept, but in the end, it’s nice to have a company with a reliable system we can count on during construction.
Best regards and good luck with your build—don’t let yourselves be discouraged.
Seppl's Häusle schrieb:
We happened to come across a construction method using a double-frame timber wall system and now want to build that way. Feel free to tell me more about it, even via an "external PM" (I use the same name at gmx de), in case you risk being flagged for advertising otherwise...
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
A
altoderneu28 Jan 2022 16:39pffreestyler schrieb:
For example, thicker walls -> larger foundation slab Does a foundation slab only cost based on its area?
Regardless of how much weight it has to support?
Intuitively, I would assume that bricks (and maybe concrete ceilings?) weigh more than straw bales...
Curly schrieb:
A few years ago we had a broken water pipe in the kitchen, and water ran inside the wall all the way down to the basement, Would it be possible to install sensors in a water-sensitive house (similar to the washing machine "water stop") that activate a solenoid valve on the main water supply?
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