Minneapolis couple building Uptown straw house

A home that’s being built in Minneapolis is unconventional because of what the owners are putting in its walls.

Peter Schmitt and his wife, Katie, are building a home with straw inside the walls. They even call it the "Uptown Straw House."

The walls are about 20 inches thick.

Schmitt says it costs more to build a house like this but they’ll save cash in heating and cooling bills along with cutting their carbon footprint.

"It’s mainly one using a waste product helping push the climate fight forward and using innovative building styles and also getting a really comfortable home as an end result," Schmitt said. "It looks very much built like a barn and we’re using straw bales as the insulation for that structure. So the straw bales are not supporting any weight. They are functioning solely as insulation and sound dampening."

The couple hopes to move into the home next spring.