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Laura
Bartels is an experienced builder, consultant and educator
with over 14 years experience in the sustainable and natural
building field. She was a pioneer in building the first
permitted straw bale home in western Colorado in 1995.
She has been a consultant to architects, contractors,
schools and owners since 1997, offering services in feasibility,
design, construction, moisture, plasters and project management
issues for residential, school and commercial projects.
She has worked on straw bale projects nationally and in
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| “My
love for beautiful, elegant, environmentally-responsible, high-performing
buildings has melded with my love of teaching and nature”
says Bartels. With a background in natural sciences and environmental
education, building a natural home for her family led her to
helping others do the same, including overseeing the straw bale
work for the Waldorf
School on the Roaring Fork's campus in Carbondale, Colorado,
where her two sons attended school.
Laura is a regular instructor of sustainable and natural
building with University
of Colorado's Sustainable Practices Series, Solar
Energy Internationaland a guest instructor at Western
State College. Presentations for national and international
conferences and natural building colloquia as well as for
architectural firms, schools and the public have helped to
introduce natural building in a larger context.
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Laura
also brings technical expertise to the field with her
work in building science and the moisture properties
of straw bale walls. GreenWeaver Inc. sells StrawSense
moisture monitoring systems for straw bale walls. The
systems have been installed in residential, school commercial
and industrial projects throughout the US.
GreenWeaver Inc. is also involved
with research and development of a sustainable housing
plan addressing economic development and other issues
on northern plains tribal lands with the Intertribal
Council On Utility Policy, the Development
Center for Appropriate Technology and other organizations.
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