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Bio
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 Mexico.
“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.

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.

Copyright 2007 GreenWeaverInc and Laura Bartels