Join us on Saturday, March 9, 10am – 4pm!

Canada’s Greenest Home nears completion

 

October 20-27, 2012

Instructor Name: Tom Rijven
Fifth Wind Farms
Cobourg, ON

Workshop Description

Tom Rijven is a straw bale pioneer in Europe who has been at the forefront of developing techniques for straw bale and earthen plasters. He is also the person who introduced earthen plastering to Ontario during a workshop back in 2003! He is a good friend to many at Endeavour, and we’re glad to be able to help promote his upcoming workshop at Fifth Wind Farms in Cobourg.

While this is not a workshop offered by Endeavour directly, we were excited to meet up with Tom again (the last time we saw him was at the International Straw Bale Building Conference in Ontario in 2006) and find out that he was traveling to our neck of the woods again.

Tom will be leading a workshop at Fifth Wind Farms to teach his unique hexagonal compressed straw bale method, which he calls the C.U.T. (Cell Under Tension) method. His system uses pre-fab wooden elements to minimize the wood structure and keep building costs low. It is perfect for creating multi-sided buildings. He will also be teaching his earthen plastering method, which is what we at Endeavour have long based our earth plasters on.

Tom is the author of Between Earth and Straw, a bilingual (French/English) book about building with straw bales and earthen plasters. He has built bale structures and taught workshops all over Europe. His French language web site is at http://www.habitatvegetal.com/.

This workshop is not being offered directly through Endeavour. Please contact Henry Weirsma at 905-342-3666 or fifthwinds@gmail.com or see the Fifth Winds web site for more information.

Entry Requirements

Open to all. See Fifth Wind for more information.

Fee

$200. Please register through Fifth Wind Farms, fifthwinds@gmail.com or 905-342-3666

Maximum class size:

12

December 1st Presentation

On Thursday, December 1st, we are excited to join the Ontario Straw Bale Building Coalition in sponsoring Three Presentations on Straw Bale Construction at Ryerson University, Room ARC 300E, 325 Church Street in Toronto. 7:30 pm

Shi Yi, Wang Li and Tong Yu from the China Academy of Building Research will present on their lab testing program for straw bale walls, and on their involvement in straw bale home building projects in villages around China.

Colin MacDougall from Queen’s University Department of Civil Engineering will present on the numerous testing programs he has conducted on straw bale wall systems and other natural building materials.

Chris Magwood from the Endeavour Centre will present on the state of straw bale construction in Ontario, including homes built by professional bale builders, owner-builders and students.

For those with an interest in straw bale construction, the evening will be a fascinating look at a wide variety of approaches to using straw bale walls and a glimpse at the scientific testing that has made bale buildings acceptable in Canada and China.

For more information, contact us.