Fleming College

New cost–effective prefabrication technique could bring benefits of straw bale construction to the forefront in homebuilding.Fleming College today installed straw bale wall panels – constructed using a new prefabrication technique – at the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre on the campus of Trent University in Peterborough.Built in partnership with the Gainey Foundation, the environment centre will be one of Canada’s most sustainable buildings and will use almost all local and some reclaimed resources.The straw bale wall panels were prefabricated at Fleming College’s McRae Campus by the students in the Sustainable Building Design and Construction program under the guidance of coordinator Chris Magwood. The panels were then installed by crane to the foundation of the 2,000 square foot building.“This new technique allows straw bale walls to be built and installed as cost-effectively as conventional construction materials and methods”, said Chris Magwood.  “This prefabrication technique eliminates the disadvantages that have kept straw bale construction out of the mainstream building industry. Panels can be produced year-round, are perfectly straight and square, and there is no need for expensive plastering labour in their production.”Straw bale walls also feature significant environmental and energy saving advantages using healthy, non-toxic, energy efficient and carbon neutral materials. The prefabrication technique is believed to be the first of its kind in Ontario.“I really think that these walls are a significant development for the housing industry. There aren’t very many "green" technologies that outperform their conventional counterparts while also being no more expensive and using materials, ingredients and labour that are entirely local.” continued Magwood.The Camp Kawartha Environment Centre also features hemp-crete insulation, net-zero electricity use, grid-tied solar panels, super-efficient lighting, all water supplied by rainwater, composting toilets, geothermal radiant floors, a living roof, solar hot water, as well as Ontario’s only thatch roof.For more information on the construction of the Camp Kawartha Envinroment Centre, please visit www.sustainablebuilding2009.caFor more information on Camp Kawartha, please visit www.campkawartha.caLocated in Central Ontario, Fleming College has campus locations in Peterborough, Lindsay, Cobourg and Haliburton. Named for famous Canadian inventor and engineer Sir Sandford Fleming, the college features more than 90 full-time programs in Business, Computing and Hospitality, Continuing Education and Skilled Trades, Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Fine Arts, Health and Wellness, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Law, Justice and Community Services. Fleming College has 5,000 full-time and 10,000 part-time students, and more than 54,000 alumni.     – 30 -For more information: Laura Copeland, Communications Officer, lcopelan@flemingc.on.ca