CMHC Study of Wood Use In Strawbale Homes

Another recent study funded by CMHC examined

wood use in straw-bale homes. In the study, wood use in the envelope of a load-bearing straw-bale home in southern Ontario was carefully tracked by the builder and compared with modeled wood use for the exterior envelope of a comparably sized wood-frame home with 2x6 walls. Wood for interior partition walls and interior finish was not included because those usages would be comparable for both straw-bale and conventional houses. The study found that the load-bearing straw-bale home used 32% less total wood. Exterior walls in the straw-bale house used 57% less framing lumber, while the roof system required 11% more framing lumber. (In the straw-bale home, 60% of all lumber use was for the roof system.) The savings in dimensional lumber use totaled 22%, and savings in engineered wood products (OSB and I-joists) 60%. If wood use for interior partition walls and interior finish were included in the comparison, the percentage savings in the straw-bale home would be lower. For information, visit

www.cmhc.ca (search for “Wood Usage in Straw Bale House Construction”), or contact CMHC at 613/748-2000.