Green Home Building

Publisher: New Society

ISBN: 9780865717794

Order From: New Society
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According to conventional wisdom, building a green home is an expensive endeavor. The standard approach treats green as an add-on, tacking “premium” products, finishes and equipment onto a traditional home design. As a result, many green home projects end up over budget or fail to achieve their environmental and performance goals.

Green Home Building explodes the myth that green homes have to cost more. Using proven methods based on applied building science, the authors show how to:

Lower base construction costs to provide funding for high performance upgrades
Achieve a net zero energy home, including “zero-ing” water, waste, carbon and associated costs within fifteen years
Live affordably into the future, despite anticipated rising costs for fuel, water, materials, taxes and health care.

This comprehensive guide to building green on any budget defines the strategies that maximize the return on green investments. Written for anyone who has ever been swayed by the argument that the price tag limits how green a home can be, Green Home Building is a must-read for builders, contractors, architects, designers and homeowners.

Small Strawbale: Natural Homes, Projects & Designs

Authors: Athena & Bill Steen and Wayne Bingham

Publisher: Gibbs Smith

Paperback: 240 pages

ISBN-10: 1586855158

ISBN-13: 978-1586855154

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or direct from the publisher.

Review from Mark Piepkorn, former editor of The Last Straw Journal:

A copy of the new book Small Strawbale: Natural Homes, Projects & Designs by Athena & Bill Steen and Wayne Bingham, published by Gibbs Smith, came into the office today. It’s gorgeous, like all the projects the Steens involve themselves with – and, as usual, it opens doors beyond strawbale. Love them for that.

Chapters include Garden Walls & Fences, Open-Air Structures, Greenhouses, Canelo Outbuildings (that’s their place), Tiny Studios & Meditation Retreats, The Shed Roof, The Gable Roof, Small Houses, and Clustered Compounds.

Most of the photos are sumptuous, the accompanying text insightful and inspiring – not at all overbearing. It’s not a how to *build* book, but a *how* to build book. It was an excellent surprise to see the Lander’s beautiful Shimizu-gaki bamboo gate featured (and later in the book their home, with a photo of them that makes me miss them even more), several of Athena’s stunning murals, and – Jack’s Flat! Kudos to Mr. Glassford!

This book fires my imagination and gives me joy.

Sun/Earth Buffering and Superinsulation: Building for Energy Independence

Author(s): Don Booth, Jonathan Booth, Peg Boyles

Publisher: Rodale Pr (September 1984)

Paperback:
ISBN: 0960442235
ISBN-13: 978-0960442232
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Hardbound:
ISBN-10: 0960442243
ISBN-13: 978-0960442249
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Back in 1983 Don Booth’s company, Community Builders was one of the premier developers of energy efficient homes in New England. This privately published book was probably written to help prospective customer’s understand the technology and boost sales. No matter what his reason, Don’s book became a classic of the genre. Calling upon his experience, he goes step-by-step through the theory and practice of building super insulated and passive solar/geothermal homes. The explanations are clear, the examples are informative and it provides just the right amount of technical detail. If you are planning to build a new home, read this book first. The principles you learn here will save you thousands of heating and cooling dollars. It has already saved me from a very expensive mistake.

Unlike most books on this topic, you can actually read this book without stunning your brain. Instead of bulking up the book with endless pages of sun elevation charts or conversion tables, Don includes twenty ‘reviews’ of solar/geothermal homes by their owners, designers and builders. These vary from the comic to the insane as the early pioneers struggle to build their dream homes. Some of these stories would make good movies. My personal favorite is the lady who lives in a tent on the site while her home is built. We watch with dismay as construction delays move completion deep into the cold New England winter. Finally, she moves gleefully into the shell while waiting for the windows, only to have her children complain that the tent was warmer. Who says we can’t learn from the mistakes of others.

Discovering Your Old House

Author(s): David Iredale and John Barrett

Publisher: Shire; 4 edition (March 4, 2008)

Paperback: 176 pages

ISBN-10: 0747804982

ISBN-13: 978-0747804987

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(Discovering handbook 14) 111 pp, 90+ b/w ills.

Great for cob and earth builders and timberframe builders- shows many houses with thatch, timber peg, crucks, cob, Inglenook fireplaces; with photos and drawings of design and layout.

Every house has a story to tell. David Iredale and John Barrett describe how, step by step, the history of your old (or not so old) house may be discovered.

The life story of an old house is told by the stones, bricks, timber, tiles and thatch that make up its walls, floors and roof. Its history is also discovered in manuscripts and printed books, in archives and public libraries. These crucial sources are described and explained with the help of apt quotations from old documents and reproductions of maps, plans and pictures.

—

‘…outstandingly well informed about the documentary sources concerning old houses and their occupants … of great help to the historian as well as the general reader.’ – Times Educational Supplement; ‘… will be fascinating to owners of old houses. It very readably gives an introductory guide to dating houses from their architectural styles, plans and materials, and to racing their history from documents… As the book sensibly concentrates on modest houses rather than mansions it will have a wide appeal.’ – Solicitors’ Journal; ‘This sort of information is not contained elsewhere in such concise and usable way.’ – Architects Journal

About the Author

David Ireland and John Barrett are both professional archivists whose lifetime experience of local records and historical fieldwork has been shared in published articles on prehistory, local history, archive administration and genealogy. They are co-authors of three other books for Shire, ‘Discovering Local History’, ‘Discovering Your Family Tree’ and ‘Discovering Old Handwriting’.

Environmental Building News

Monthly news from leaders in Green Building. Available as an annual subscription or as a monthly pay-as-you-go.

Available From: BuildingGreen

Environmental Building News is the leading resource on sustainable design and construction. It can put your practice at the forefront with in-depth, practical solutions to your thorniest green building problems.

This isn’t one of those magazines where the advertisers write the articles – Environmental Building News does meticulous in-depth research, with minimal bias.

Highly recommended for building professionals who are serious about sustainablility.

Green Building Handbook: Volume 1: A Guide to Building Products and their Impact on the Environment

Author(s): T. Woolley

Publisher: E & Fn Spon

Paperback: 224 pages

ISBN: 0419226907

ISBN-13: 978-0419226901

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Environmentally responsible building involves resolving many conflicting issues and requirements. Each stage in the design process from the fundamental decisions about what, where and even whether to build has implications for the environment.
Evolving out of the success of Green Building Digest, a publication described by Building Design as well-researched, authoritative and exhaustive, this practical new handbook considers the environmental issues which relate to the production, use and disposal of key building products and materials. It is designed to help specifiers and purchasers gain awareness of the potential environmental impact of their decisions.
Chapter by chapter Green Building Handbook looks at a different sector of the trade from flooring to roofing, comparing the environmental effects of commonly available products with less well known green alternatives. A Best Buy section then ranks these products from lowest to highest impact.

Your Green Home: A Guide to Planning a Healthy, Environmentally Friendly New Home

Author: Alex Wilson

Paperback: 256 pages

Publisher: New Society Publishers (June 1, 2006)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0865715556

ISBN-13: 978-0865715554

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More and more homeowners today want houses that are healthy to live in and cause minimal damage to the environment. That’s what green building is all about.

Your Green Home is written for homeowners planning a new home—whether you are working with an architect or builder, or serving as your own general contractor. Intended to improve the overall environmental performance of new houses being built, the book sets out to answer some of the big-picture questions relating to having a home designed and built—and getting what you want.

Your Green Home covers:

• Home location and its relationship to the community
• Site design
• Construction systems
• Building design to optimize energy performance
• Renewable energy systems
• Material selection
• Indoor environmental quality
• Water efficiency
• Material selection

Written by the founder of BuildingGreen—North America’s premier green building authority—this book will prove useful not only to future homeowners, but also to designers and builders seeking to meet this demand. Building professionals well-versed in green building may find this a useful book to give to potential clients to convey the scope and principles of green building.

Alex Wilson is president of BuildingGreen, Inc. and executive editor of Environmental Building News, the oldest and most respected publication serving North America’s green building industry. A green building expert since the 1970s, he has authored countless articles on the topic and several books, including Green Building Products, the Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings, and Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate.

Gazebos & Other Outdoor Structures

Author(s): Joseph F., Jr. Wajszczuk (Editor), Joh Corinchock, Jim Russel

Publisher: Creative Homeowners Press

ISBN: 1880029049

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Paperback, 157 pages
Publication date: March 1995

“This beautifully illustrated guide is the one book you need to build an outdoor retreat that fits your lifestyle. You will find step-by-step instructions with complete materials lists for the most popular gazebos, pavilions, and arbors.”
Green Bay Press Gazette
June 2, 2001

Synopsis:
Includes 20 do-it-yourself projects for detached structures designed to provide privacy, shade, and beauty. Midwest Book Review : Along with decks and patios, gazebos are a popular addition to the home for relaxing and entertaining. Gazebos & Other Outdoor Structures from Creative Homeowner Press makes building a gazebo, pavilion, or arbor possible for any do-it-yourselfer. Packed with information and beautiful designs, Gazebos & Other Outdoor Structures clearly explains the process of building any of 8 projects. More than 400 full-color illustrations and over 80 full-color photographs highlight and define the step-by-step instructions. Information is provided on the latest in tools, materials, and customizing design options such as paint types and colors, and decorative trim.

Gazebos & Other Outdoor Structures contains plans and construction procedures for Square Hip Roof Gazebo; Arbor with Deck; Pavilion with Gable Roof; Six-Sided Gazebo; Open-Air Arbor; Eight-Sided Gazebo; Freestanding Pavilion; and Arbor with Picnic Table.

Green Home: Planning and Building the Environmentally Advanced House

Author(s): Wayne Grady

Publisher: Camden House Publishers

Paperback: 208 pages

ISBN: 0921820690

ISBN-13: 978-0921820697

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With its wealth of practical information and insight, Green Home is a must read for anyone who plans to build or buy a house and for all those who recognize that the housing decisions we make today will affect the planet we live on forever.

Graphic Guide to Frame Construction: Details for Builders and Designers

Author(s): Rob Thallon

Publisher: Taunton Press

ISBN: 1561583537

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A reigning classic, the Graphic Guide to Frame Construction is a complete visual handbook for wood-frame construction with a special emphasis on energy efficiency. Filled with hundreds of meticulous drawings, it shows the framing details you need to understand when building with wood.

This completely revised and updated edition is more comprehensive and reflects the most recent changes in residential frame construction. It contains more details for energy efficiency, use of modern engineered and composite materials, and construction in high-wind and seismic areas. It’s well annotated and covers foundations, floors, walls, stairs and roofs. Because examples are taken from actual job sites by a trusted expert, this book is an invaluable visual aid that can help builders and homeowners alike to tackle a wide range of framing projects. Whether building a partition or flashing a window, you’ll find the visual explanation here.

Graphic Guide to Frame Construction is a valuable reference for architects and builders, and an ideal primer for students and owner-builders. Starting with the foundation, the book moves systematically from component to component ending with the roof. Regional variations and options are included. These details were mined from actual job sites through the input of a panel of builders and architects from around the U.S. Graphic Guide to Frame Construction is an authoritative reference that helps you review your options and solve specific problems no matter where or what you’re building.

240 pages, 2000

“As a reference on wood framing and enclosure details, Graphic Guide is hard to beat. It’s very well organized and clearly written. The illustrations are sharp, well annotated and drawn at a 1- or 1-1/2-inch scale, so they can be easily transferred to working drawings. And Thallon’s treatment is extensive, often showing several different ways of doing a job.”

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About the Author

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