The annual provincial-wide Straw Bale Homes Tour gives people an opportunity to experience a unique green home tour.
Recognized straw bale builder Ben Polley, of Evolve Builders Group Inc., will be among families in Guelph, Ayton, and Eden Mills who are welcoming visitors to explore their homes and ask questions about alternative home construction.
Some structures feature other “green” technologies as well, including adobe floors, composting toilets, earthen plasters, green roofs, natural finishes and more innovations.
Bale building may be the housing equivalent to the increasingly popular 100 mile diet – living in energy efficient homes and additions that are crafted from minimally processed, renewable and local materials.
As the concept of the 100 mile food diet has grown, so has the desire to build energy efficient and responsible homes from materials found nearby.
Straw homes boast walls with insulating values close to R-40, which is approximately double the insulation of a standard house, all encased in beautifully plastered and sculpted walls.
A $10 passport provides admission to as many of the 40 places across the province as you can visit in the day.The event runs Sept 30 from 10am to 4pm. Directions and other tour details are available at www.osbbc.ca.
