He Huffed And He Puffed, But Could Not Blow The Straw House In!

He huffed and he puffed but could not blow the straw house in - That would have been the ending to the story had the little pig used the technology developed by Bristol-based, Modcell. Their straw house can withstand not only a mighty wolf, but also, 120mph hurricane winds.

The two-story straw house called BaleHaus, was recently constructed by Modcell in collaboration with Researchers at University of Bath. The pre-fabricated panes, with built-in conduit allowances for plumbing and electricity, were stacked with straw bales to form a wall.

They are then compressed and pinned together and lined with lime render or a thin dry wall to ensure that no air gets inside, and also protect the house from infestation and mold build-up. The resulting house is not only carbon negative to manufacture, but also thanks to the insulating properties of straw, has the potential to reduce heating requirements by up to 85%.

As far as eco-friendly building products, straw is the ultimate 'green' material. It is cheap, renewable and a by-product of farming. However, researchers have had a hard time making it strong enough. BaleHaus seems to be passing all the stress tests and scientists are hoping that the Modcell's technology can soon be used to construct homes all over the country! To read more and see videos of how the straw house was constructed, check out: www.modcell.co.uk.

Sources: modcell.co.uk