Home, Grown: The future of building is waste | Patagonia Films

Building materials contribute an estimated 5 to 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. What if we used materials that not only take less carbon to produce but also can capture and store carbon? In California, architect and climber Dylan Johnson joined up with Yvon Chouinard and a seasoned crew to construct two houses using straw bales that would otherwise have gone to waste. Watch Home, Grown to learn why they agree that natural building isn’t just better for the climate—it’s a better way to build.

Directed By Forest Woodward
Filmed By Ben Sturgulewski
Edited By Aidan Haley and Ben Sturgulewski
Produced By Forest Woodward and Laura Yale
Additional Cinematography by George Knowles, Nate Ptacek & Forest Woodward
Assistant Camera George Knowles
Audio Post Production | Coupe Studios Music + Sound Design - Boulder, CO
Sound Design and Mix: Kip Kuepper
Executive Producers Monika McClure, Alex Lowther, Damien Etchaubard
Graphics Claire Kairalla, Nick Tonn

Archival Photos
History Nebraska
The National Archives
Library of Congress

Special thanks to
The Chouinard Family
Ecological Building Network
California Straw Building Association
Ron & Corky | K&R farming
Massey Burke | CASBA
Bruce King | Buildwell Media
Bud Miller | Sierra Summit Construction
Matthew Cook | McGillivray Construction
David Arkin | Arkin Tilt Architects
Jim Reiland | Many Hands Builders
Anthony Dente | Verdant Structural Engineers
Zane Kanyer, Swenson Say Faget | Structural Engineering Team
Tom Hughes, Mechanical Engineering Consultants, Inc, | MEP Engineering Team
Scott and Judi Nicolai


Get more from Patagonia:

00:00 Intro
1:08 Build Site #1
1:31 Meet Dylan
2:06 Straw
4:07 The source
5:55 Build Site #2
9:08 The final product
9:59
11:53 Credits

Music
“Easy Street”
Amanaz
Courtesy of Now-Again Records

“Supr”
Nash Howe
Courtesy of Article Records

“Be at Rest”
Possessed by Paul James
From the album 'As We Go Wandering’
Written by Jon Konrad Wert
Courtesy of PPJ Records and Heyday Media Group

“Raunchy”
Bill Justis
Courtesy of Musicbed

“Strawbale Blues”
Carl M Banks
Courtesy of Carl M Banks

“Jubilee”
Jake Xerxes Fussell
Courtesy of Terrorbird

[tombowes]

We built a straw bale home in Canada in 2008. Don't engage in the typical either/or debate between "function or form", with straw bale you get function AND form. Our home's heating bill was less than half of comparable sized homes in our little village of Eden Mills and it is a stunning home, as is every straw bale home I've been through.

[dalisochitundu]

As a Zambian, watching this wonderful video open with a song by our very own Amanaz had me smiling all the way.

Good production and good message!

Well done once again for Patagonia and their collaborators for shining the light on old technology that we need to adopt today.

[jameskniskern]

Saw this served up to me in an add.
Our straw bale home was completed in 2016 in Kentucky. Passive solar heating with supplemental wood heat. All wood harvested for heating on site. $0 for winter heating bill.
We taught a lot of people about the process. And our straw wad wheat straw grown one County over from ours.
Loved the film.

[bradgantt]

Great project and film. It's wonderful to see these types of projects coming to life. I was in architecture school over 30 years ago, and the benefits of straw bale building were well known. Seems like it takes forever for us to realize what we've known to be true for generations.

[seeme]

They say it takes only just 2 generations time to decimate ones culture...then i wonder if it would only take 2 generations to build an entire new culture .a planet friendly one of course..
Patagonia ‘s videos have always been so inspiring think it is the perfect time for Patagonia to create a school /university .

[Hunterkey]

"I'm always stressing out, because I'm a general contractor" Truer words were never spoken

[dff]

I wish they would have showed the rendering process for the external weatherproofing and internal wet room areas. More videos on sustainable building and clothing Patagonia!

[CaseinPaglia]

Noi costruiamo case in paglia in Italia e ne siamo orgogliosi come i nostri committenti. Grazie Paragonia per diffondere questa tecnica costruttiva!
We build thatched houses in Italy and we are as proud of it as our clients. Thank you Paragonia for spreading this construction technique!

[lvtiguy]

It is my sincere hope that the next house we move into, after our kids are on their own, will be as close to carbon neutral as possible. This film is great inspiration to that pursuit. Thanks Patagonia!

[cindymeyerson]

Thank you Yvon for supporting me on my sailing journey to Hawaii and being an inspiration to many. Thank you for contributing in such a big way for a better future. ❤❤❤

[Korina]

What do you get when you pound dirt into an old car tire? A 300 lb. brick. Earthships are another amazing type of house; well worth looking into.

[thimothelamoureux]

Thanks @Patagonia and all the other folks before for raising awareness about building with natural materials! It is time we incorporate more sustainable practices in the sourcing of building materials, especially when many houses nowadays won't make it past 50 years. The more it is seen as a beneficial type of construction, the easier it will be to get building departments and inspectors to agree to the projects.

[blakebro]

I’m currently reading Yvon’s book, Let My People Go Surfing. It’s super inspiring and informative on how Patagonia operates. I love this business model as it completely flips the perspective on how business should be ran!

[EleanorSlack]

Loved the video. We finished building our straw bale house in southern CA not quite 3 years ago. We had a 7 day workshop where people came and paid to learn how to build it. It was a lot of work and took us a couple of years. The permit process is tough especially with the fire department codes in wildfire areas. Probably would have been easier anywhere other than California.

[byromglen]

Thanks for producing this video! lve been building with straw for over 25 years. lts still not getting enough media and this is the biggest setback for homes made with bales.
Thank you, Balebot Byrom

[larryydens]

Here in New Mexico, the poster child for Adobe, strawbale construction has been a popular alternative for 30 years. It has few, if any, downsides…

[bwp]

Very appreciative of this effort and referential innovation! Thank you Patagonia for teaching me about another inspiring solution. Now let's turn those straw-built single family homes into straw-built multifamily townhouses! Single family sprawl creates car dependency, which is another third of our carbon emission issue :)

[FelixTheAnimator]

Right now in Texas square bales of wheat straw are $125 apiece. I've got clay & sand though, so I'll build with cob this year.

[nutshellcoolers]

Love this! As usual, Patagonia is a source of inspiration. Love hearing Yvon say what we've said a million times, using agricultural waste as an alternative to plastics is "a win, win, win deal". Hope to one day soon build a home with upcycled coconut husks. In the meantime we'll be using our coconut husk insulation inside Nutshell Coolers to keep drinks cold and food fresh on your next outdoor adventure :)

[bryanmilne]

Great! So many amazing plant fibers, as "waste" or not.... Bamboo and Hemp, not to mention all the invasive plants so much money is spent on removing which could be utilized in building as well! The future is here NOW! It's time to start embracing these practices whenever and wherever appropriate!!