My draft for what I want my straw bale home to be has been ready for many moons. The final version, done up with the help of a talented designer who has been in the business of building homes for a number of years, has been ready for weeks and weeks.  Having been warned that it will take significant time for Santa Fe County to approve any plans – let alone unconventional ones – I have been agitating for my designer to submit them to the county.

Well, he tried, but it appears that there is no code for straw bale house construction so there are additional hurdles ahead for us to navigate.  It seems odd that in a state where there have been quite a number of straw bale homes built – and in fact boasts some early innovators – that there would be no code.  Worse, it seems odder that a state that likes to boast about its “green” initiatives and that wants to be seen as a leader in “green” industry that this should present any problem at all.  And even “worser” still, how can it be that a state with a significant water problem adopted rain catchment and harvesting rather late and still restricts its use to watering outside plants and the toilet bowl.  I am still looking into this last point, but this is what I have been told.

Phooey!  If they are concerned about bird poop in the rainwater then they can insist that measures be taken to deal with that. Since I will be doing just that, I don’t see why the question has been raised.  I know plenty of people who use rain for everything and are just fine. It makes one wonder if staying within the bounds of the law makes any sense.

It reminds me of a sign I saw at Tinkertown:

“The first person ever to apply for a permit to build something on his own land should have been shot for treason”

In other news, I have begun the rock harvesting in earnest, going out for an hour or so most mornings to gather rock on the property for the interior gabion walls as well as part of the courtyard ones.

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion