In the 90s, Denmark’s first straw house approved for habitation was built at the Nordic Folkecenter for Sustainable Energy. Lars Keller, who was heavily involved in the construction at the time, still works with straw houses, which today are something quite different from stacked straw bales. An example of modern straw construction Feldballe Friskole’s science and education building, which was built in 2021. The walls consist of straw elements, which are basically a wooden frame filled with straw.
– It is a wood-straw based load-bearing, insulating wall, which is pre-produced in a factory, delivered to measure, so that there is no waste on the construction site, and then they are craned from a truck and directly onto the plinth, says Lars Keller from EcoCocon ApS, that has supplied the elements.
A lot has happened in straw construction world since Lars helped build the Folkecenter’s straw house.
– Back then, we built with what I call grandma straw bales – small straw bales from agriculture, which we built together and stacked like bricks, and then we plastered them. In the years that have passed since we started with that, we have now come to a state, where it is a tested, certified, approved and legal product that has been commercialized, says Lars Keller and continues:
– So we went from that straw construction was almost only something for self-builders, to where we are now where it is also construction companies who can use it, and developers who can consider it for their buildings.
You can see the construction in Feldballe in detail in the video below and hear Lars Keller tell more about the properties of the building and the straw in relation to climate, fire and economy.