Analysis and Improvement Recommendations on Straw Bale Building in Northeast China

Built with compressed straw as structural or non-structural walls, the straw bale building can date back to the twentieth century in Nebraska. Besides its great thermal and acoustic insulation, buildings with straw can also lead to low impact on environment and health. It was introduced into Northeast China in 1999 by Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA). In order to investigate straw bale buildings’ service condition in Northeast China, a survey on 25 straw bale buildings of four villages and in Tangyuan County was conducted and a straw bale house was selected to test its interior air temperature and wall surface temperature compared to a similar clay brick house. Based on an inspection of existing buildings, serious issues relating to thermal bridge and wall cracks seized our concentration. Large areas of cracks appeared on exterior plaster, and obvious dewing on interior surface of thermal bridge could be observed, seriously influencing inhabitant environment. On the basis of in-depth analysis on these serious problems, in order to accommodate the environmental conditions in Northeast China, revisions on wall construction and exterior plaster details were put forward, making recommendations for future straw bale construction design to promote references for further generalization in China.