Drew, Principal Architect at Hubbell & Hubbell Architects, has been selected to speak about strawbale construction at the Wildfire Resilient Structures (WiReS) Conference & Tradeshow in February 2023!
H&H has been at the forefront of strawbale construction for over 20 years & has designed and permitted over 40 straw bale buildings in San Diego County. In 2003, Drew worked with City of San Diego building officials to gain acceptance for post-and-beam, straw-bale construction with lime plaster and obtained the first straw bale commercial building permit in the City of San Diego.
WiReS addresses the fire risk for the built environment. “The UC Davis WiReS Conference will shape the future; bringing greater attention to long-term and short-term solutions for improving wildfire resilience of buildings worldwide. Wildfires are an ever-present and increasing threat to the well-being of the world population, infrastructure and economy, particularly in the U.S. Western states. WiReS will focus on how we can better prepare and respond to this formidable challenge.”
Plastered straw-bale structures enjoy considerably greater immunity to wildfire damage than other kinds of building. If the roof composition and sources of exposed wood such as beams, doors and window frames are made fire-proof, a strawbale-constructed building can survive firestorms that would consume other structures. There are several case studies where straw bale structures survived during wildfires while many non-straw bale neighboring homes burned around them. See this article for specific case studies.
We are thrilled that Drew will be speaking at this event to shed more light on this amazing construction method! He will be co-presenting with Rebecca Tasker of Simple Construct.
Kubicek home photos by Pavlina Kubicek.
Deer Park Monastery Photos by Arnel Garcia.
Post-fire photo from CASBA article above.