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APSC 261 sustainability project : an investigation into the use of cob and/or straw bale construction in non-residential buildings

University of British Columbia. Sustainability Office

The report investigates the use of cob and/or straw bale construction in non-residential buildings. The main purpose of the investigation is to present the possibility of having a building or a section of a building be constructed at the UBC Farm. The new structure will act as a farm centre managed by the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems. At the farm centre, students, professors and the general public will have the opportunity to learn about sustainable technologies. The investigation begins by identifying what cob and straw bale is and how it is used in the construction of buildings. Additionally, the similarities and differences of cob and straw bale construction are explored. Furthermore, three case studies of non-residential cob buildings are described and summarized. Next, a triple bottom line assessment was used to evaluate the possibility of using cob and/or straw bale construction at the UBC Farm. This assessment consists of three indicators: social, environmental and economic. The social factors include accessibility to local construction resources, safety and comfort of the building as well as the impact of such a building on the local community. The environmental issues involved exploring the carbon footprint of using cob and straw bale as well as how the material will fare in Vancouver’s climate. Lastly, the economic factors include assessing the production, labour and maintenance costs as well as the lifetime of a cob and straw bale building. Finally, after using the triple bottom line assessment to evaluate the possibility of using cob and/or straw bale construction for a new farm centre, the results recommend a section of the new farm centre be constructed using cob and straw bale. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

University of British Columbia. APSC 261; UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0108501

Applied Science, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/