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Construction System for Single-Family Homes using Load Bearing Straw Bale Walls Quivillungo Community, Bolivar, Ecuador

Abstract:

This study begins by describing how our team chose an area in the Ecuadorian Andean Region where a prototype single-family home using load bearing straw-bale-walls could be successfully built. The criteria used in this search were based on results from geographic information systems. The next section describes the design and manufacture of a baler machine which is essential to the feasibility of the strawbale home construction procedure. The study then goes on to explain the features of the most important elements of the single-family home structure: foundations, straw walls, wall crowns, roof and structural plaster. The prototype home was built in accordance with existing standards from other countries, taking into account the high seismic hazard of the geographic region and applying the specific capacities of the Quivillungo community. The construction was validated using analytic models that show the existence of relatively low stresses and deformations and highlight the structural importance of the plaster.