Hi Aleck !!! firstly i have to say i have no experience or expertise in building these homes ,and im not about to try and bluff that i have .But a friend of mine built one here in NZ , and i visited his place .It was wonderful !! warm in winter cool in summer and very sound proof , and as they were musicians they said the acoustics inside were great . Their house was made from straw bales the concrete foundations of the house had steel reinforcing rods set at certain spaces along all of the walls , these were pushed up through the straw bales .Dirt was mixed with cement to certain proportions in a concrete mixer and as with bricks or blocks the straw bales were laid the same with a layer of this dirt/cement mixture in between .Later on the bales were plastered over on the inside and outside with this same mixture to form a seal .In NZ a special engineers certificate was needed to build one of these houses .I would say these houses might not be suitable in wetter climates ! NZ has high rainfall although some areas are dryer than others . But to much rain might have a bad effect? on this type of building if it came into direct contact to often . To get around this problem most likely roofs that extend a long way out past the house! and form a porch or verandah might help .
But i was really impressed with the house that i saw and the feeling and vibes within it were wonderful .Sadly the area where i live the rainfall is very high .Below is a link that might help (hope thats ok Green focus team? )...and googling brings up some very good info .
http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/adobe.htm
