STEP Training

Advanced STEP course

STEP U1: INTRO INTO STRAW BALE BUILDING

Content: History and Modern Straw Bale Building, Customizing & Handling: quality, orientation, measuring, shaping, dividing, rebinding, cutting and notching bales, density, moisture, tools for straw bale building and storage of bales.

Advanced STEP course

STEP U2: INFILL & PREFABRICATION

Content: handling tools, plan & construct INFILL double post walls, HYBRID constructions (CUT, OrganiCUT, GREB), execute different infill construction methods, know about PREFAB straw bale elements and advantages and disadvantages of the different techniques.

Advanced STEP Course

STEP U3: Load Bearing Straw Bale Construction

Content: Ioad bearing construction methods, resizing, compressing and fixing bales, construction of window boxes, base- and top plates, connection to roofs and ceilings, selecting good quality straw bales, structural behaviour, innovative examples of load bearing construction.

Advanced STEP course

STEP U4: Straw Bale Wrapping & Renovation

Content: checking existing constructions, different wrapping and insulation methods (full bale with hybrid construction, binding, compressing; straw flakes with battens, planks, pallets, boards; prefab), finishing, inside insulation

Advanced STEP course

STEP U5: Finishes – Clay, Lime, Cladding

Content: tools and machines for rendering and cladding, prepare the plaster base, plaster/render mixture (clay, lime), wall and supporting constructions for cladding, cladding systems, airtight, wind and rain proof details, calculating rendering and cladding quantities.

Advanced STEP course

STEP U6: Building Physics

Content: Heat Transfer, Fire Protection, Moisture Transfer and Sound Insulation as well as Healthy Room Climates, Energy Efficiency and common mistakes and solutions in connection with Thermal Bridges, the lack of Airtightness and Windproofness. We show Energy Standards in different countries and how to achieve the standards in Straw Bale Building.

Advanced STEP Course

STEP U7: Architecture and Planning of Straw Bale Buildings

Content: principles of solar design, national building laws, building materials, cost estimation, technical details, sketching a basic design and a construction plan, understand and repair most common faults and damages in straw bale construction

Advanced STEP Course

STEP U8: Communication and Calculation

Content: how to communicate with your clients, how to estimate the building costs and make a detailed calculation. We also show essential (free and easy to learn) recommended programs for publishing/marketing: image + text, a slideshow, a video.