Political Economy of Straw Houses: Traditional and Contemporary Way of Enhancing Sustainability of the Buildings

Abstract

Cities, as production and consumption hubs, cause significant amount of global CO₂ emissions and energy consumption. Climate change challenges world’s welfare due to the global warming. Cities’ environmental footprint can be reduced with the help of energy efficient and sustainable built environment which can further contribute to the wellbeing and welfare of the urban population contributing to the solution of the fuel poverty. Straw is a traditional and contemporary material having outstanding technical characteristics (e.g. thermal insulation). Straw is a traditional material as it has been used in sheltering starting from the ancient times. Straw is a contemporary material as it is used even in small buildings with the help of innovations. Furthermore, it is a cost effective material from initial investment as well as maintenance and repair aspects. Straw houses can reduce energy consumption. This can reduce countries’ trade deficit due to the reduced demand for energy import, contributing to the solution of the fuel poverty. Straw is environmental friendly natural material. Constructing straw houses is important for sustainable living. Giving importance to the straw house construction can help reduction in the CO₂ emission and in the energy consumption. Based on an in-depth literature review, this paper investigates political economy of straw houses and straw houses’ contribution to the sustainability performance of the built environment. This paper introduces to the literature political economy of the straw houses and provides recommendations on how to widespread the use of straw houses.