Steve Miller has heard his share of three little pigs jokes.

No big, bad wolf is going to blow Miller’s straw house down, though. Neither is the Wyoming wind that huffs and puffs through Harmony.

Building a house from bales of straw is Miller’s passion, his entertainment, his responsibility and, some say, his mania.

“I think you’re crazy not to build a straw house. With the price of lumber, why would you want to spend the money on lumber when you could build a house cheaper?” Miller said. “People think I’m more crazy for having five border collies than for building a straw- bale house.”

The bright-eyed and energetic dogs dominate the unfinished interior of Miller’s house and, to cat lovers, would likely be seen as overwhelming. On September nights when the temperature dipped below freezing and the straw house didn’t have doors or windows, the dogs kept Miller snug and warm in bed. (Even though the house now is buttoned up, and heat radiates from the floor, Miller said his gut still clenches a little when he sees geese migrating south.)

Miller reciprocates the companionship. He designed the house with his dogs in mind. The two features that the house was designed and built around were the courtyard - and the doggie door. The courtyard is a couple years from completion. The doggie door is already well-used.

Article © Micah Sturr
Picture © Barbara J. Perenic

With Hurricane Katrina shutting down an estimated five percent of American oil refining capacity, and oil prices already at an all-time high, investors are starting to look seriously at renewable forms of energy as the next big thing. Share prices in several small American companies producing solar panels and related equipment--including Evergreen Solar, DayStar Technologies, Energy Conversion Devices and Spire--have more than doubled over the past year. Meanwhile, Cypress Semiconductor hopes to raise more than $100 million for a spin-off IPO of its solar subsidiary SunPower this fall. Analysts think that the damage from Katrina will only help these companies raise more money via the public markets and close the cost gap between traditional forms of power and renewable sources.

"The solar market is projected to grow 35 percent a year for the next three to five years," said Walter V. Nasdeo of Ardour Capital, a New York-based investment bank specializing in energy companies. "As these technologies get better, we're seeing things being developed like solar panels integrated into roofing tiles. That way, they don't look like a science project hanging on your roof."

Article © Roddy Scheer/E - The Environmental Magazine

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