2024 Timber Framers Guild Conference

Joe Trumpey

University of Michigan, Professor

Joe Trumpey is a farmer, sustainable designer, science illustrator, and educator. As a professor at the University of Michigan for more than 30 years, he holds appointments at the Stamps School of Art & Design, Program in the Environment, and School for the Environment and Sustainability. Joe directs UM’s Sustainable Living Experience, a living/learning community for first-year undergraduates. He has expertise in sustainable design-build work, community-based co-design work, and as an illustrator. He has published thousands of illustrations and lectures widely. He has designed and built several strawbale buildings and co-founded Balecraft.com, a Great Lakes-based straw panel manufacturer. He and his family live off the electrical grid in a straw bale home he designed and built in Grass Lake, Michigan. They haven’t burned a gram of fossil fuel to heat their home, their water, or cook their food in more than fifteen Michigan winters. They farm heritage-breed livestock and grow more than half of their annual food.

www.balecraft.com

Presentation

The Benefits of Pairing Straw Bales & Timber Frames
I will share the design-build process for my timber and straw homestead, two University of Michigan timber and straw buildings, and share new work in creating a Straw-SIP company that pairs well with timber. I'll also share our work with a University of Michigan campus sawmill.