How do strawbales perform in regards to passive solar design?
The physical components of an ideal passive solar design include adequate thermal mass to store and release heat on a 24 hour cycle and an insulating exterior wrap to reduce heat loss to the outside in winter and heat gain to the interior in summer. Therefore, proper placement of high-mass materials such as clay render, bricks, concrete, tiles, adobe or rammed earth in the interior of the structure provide thermal mass, while the highly insulating strawbale walls greatly reduce the heat transfer by conduction.
