Re:hay? (Score 1)

Hay would be drastically different than building a house from straw. Hay is still green and therefore wet and tasty to pests you dont want. Straw on the other hand is another beast altogether. Straw bale was actually a common practice no more than 100 years ago in the middle of the United States where there were less trees to be used for construction. Since fire requires oxygen for combustion there is little risk of lighting a straw bale on fire. It would be very similar to holding a match to the bottom of a yellow pages, sure it will light... eventually. By the way as an asside there is very little risk of pests in hay as well since there is low moisture in straw and little nutritional value to pests such as mice. It also has an R value of approximately R50, I'd love to see stick frame construction compete with that.