There are a plethora of benefits that come with deciding to build a strawbale house. One of the most prominent and decisive benefits, is that it is economically sound to build a strawbale house. The material upon which it is built is readily available and in areas of grain production inexpensive. Also compared to lumber, investing on straw materials rather than lumber is economically prudent. This is because lumber prices are unpredictable and is limited in supply. This limit in supply will only increase in the future and with demand for housing only able to increase, the price will surely rise. In a recent article, a builder in Datil Mexico estimates the overall building cost is $27.00 a square foot for strawbale homes as compared to $50.00 to $60.00 a square foot using today's conventional building designs and materials.

However the difference in prices for the materials are not what makes strawbale houses such a good buy. It is the savings in energy that make it a great investment. It is estimated that straw-bale homes use roughly half as much energy as conventional houses fo for heating and cooling. This could mean a saving of severl hundreds of dollars every year. If we look at the table below we can see the R-value for different straw bale materials of vaious thicknesses. This high R-value or insulation capability far exceed that offered by conventional housing.

Finally, if the ground around the house remains dry and the house is sufficiently maintained, the life span could be hundreds of years

Pittman, Carol. "A Straw Bale House in Datil, New Mexico — positive, low cost
     construction." http://www.southernnewmexico.com. 29 Mar. 2009
     <http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southwest/Catron/
     AstrawbalehouseinDatilNew.html>.

Wilson, Alex. "Straw: The Next Great Building Material? ."
     http://www.buildinggreen.com. 26 Mar. 2009
     <http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=040301a.xml>.

What are the Safety Benefits of Straw-Bale Houses?