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.

Residential Energy: Cost Savings and Comfort for Existing Buildings (5th Edition)

Author(s): John T. Krigger

Publisher: Prentice Hall; 5 edition (October 18, 2009)

Paperback: 320 pages

ISBN-10: 0135125413

ISBN-13: 978-0135125410

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Residential Energy introduces readers to a home’s energy-related components and explains all the important possibilities for energy conservation. Readers will learn from this exceptionally illustrated text that effective energy conservation requires a whole-house approach that addresses the biggest energy wasters first!

Covering everything from basic principles and air leakage to insulation and windows and doors, this user friendly manual is an essential text/reference for anyone interested in the design, construction, and operation of energy efficient homes! PLUS, every book includes a CD-ROM containing an electronic version of the text!

Ideally suited for programs in weatherization, energy auditors/raters and general construction trades including carpentry, HVAC, plumbers, electricians, and more! Residential Energy is packed full of the latest information on energy consumption, analyzing energy costs, and other energy-auditing information.

The Last Straw

Authors: various

Publisher: Green Prairie Foundation for Sustainability

Order From: The Last Straw Journal

The Last Straw Journal is a (theoretically) quarterly journal of strawbale and natural building. Issues have been somewhat sporadic over the last several years due to health issues of the publisher, but don’t let that deter you – there are 60+ issues so far, all available as back issues in one form or another, and pretty much all of which contain good useful material on strawbale construction, plaster, foundations, etc, etc.

PDF copies have been available for a number of years, and they’re encouraging all subscribers to purchase PDFs if possible in order to reduce shipping and printing costs.

The first 40 issues are compiled on a single CD.

More Other Homes and Garbage: Designs for Self-Sufficient Living, Complete Revised, Expanded, and Updated

Author(s): Jim Leckie

Publisher: Sierra Club Books

ISBN: 087156274X

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“daphage” (Ithaca, NY)

While ageless classics exist, I must deduct one star per 25 year for technical manuals. This however is a library of practical knowledge in one book. This book from ’75 found the perfect balance between techno-engineering texts that no one could read and the books that told you to conserve energy without any real direction or practicality. This book gives practical design tips and easy to use formulas for everything from designing passive solar collectors to generating your own electricity to methane digesters and other waste handling techniques. Water supplies, photovoltaics, house insulation and even placing windbreaks around your house to both cool in the summer and protect in the winter are covered!

I used this book as a text in my Renewable Energy Systems course and learned more practical knowledge from it than I think I have in my 4 years at Cornell! Highly recommended and I hope people will buy it so we can get it back in print!

Insulating Concrete Forms for Residential Design and Construction

Cover, Insulating Concrete Forms for Residential Design and Construction

Insulating Concrete Forms for Residential Design and Construction

Author(s): Pieter A. Vanderwerf, Stephen J. Feige, Paula Chammas, Lione Lemay, W. Keith Munsell

Publisher: McGraw Hill Text

ISBN: 0070670331

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Insulating Concrete Forms for Residential Design and Construction

Hardcover, 352 pages Publication date: October 1997

Synopsis:
Insulating concrete forms, the most requested new material in home building today, increases energy efficiency, design flexibility, strength and durability. This step-by-step illustrated guide shows designers, architects, and engineers how to put this cutting-edge technology to work. Eight pages of color photos show homes recently constructed with this technology. 178 illus.

Table of Contents
Part 1 Performance
Chapter 1. ICF Characteristics
Part 2 Components
Chapter 2. ICF Systems
Chapter 3. Plastic Foams
Part 3 Design
Chapter 4. Detailing Considerations
Chapter 5. System Selection
Chapter 6. Building Envelope
Chapter 7. Attachments
Chapter 8. Cost Estimation
Part 4 Engineering
Chapter 9. Structural Performance
Chapter 10. Structural Design
Chapter 11. Energy Efficiency and HVAC
Chapter 12. Possible Future Developments
Part 5 Assembly
Chapter 13. Process Overview
Chapter 14. Formwork

Building with Vision: Optimizing and Finding Alternatives to Wood

Author: Dan Imhoff

ISBN: 097095000

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Building with Vision: Optimizing and Finding Alternatives to Wood

The United States has both the rare fortune and the dubious distinction of being among the only industrialized nations to use wood as its primary material for residential buildings. While other developed countries have evolved masonry and other building systems not reliant on wood, on average, a full acre of trees is consumed to build just one house in the United States. And, for every twenty houses built, enough waste is typically left over to frame another house.

Combining environmental philosophy, practical information, and dynamic visuals, Building with Vision makes accessible many solutions to wasteful tree-dependent construction and design. In addition to identifying the benefits, challenges, and applications of the recommended alternatives to contemporary American construction, this book details building methods to minimize wood waste, maximize efficiency, and emphasize the unique aesthetic properties of non-wood materials.

Part resource guide, part photo essay, this 136-page gem features beautifully composed, nearly tactile photographs that bring to life an array of alternative materials. Case studies highlight successful building projects that utilize innovative and effective framing, siding, insulation, roofing, and finishing materials and techniques.

Building systems featured include Rastra, a new kind of interlocking block made of recovered Styrofoam packaging; Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) made of plywood, OSB, or strawboard with a thick foam core; and a variety of “Eco-Crete,” super-insulating concrete systems. A wide range of finish materials are discussed as well: panel board made from agricultural crop waste, flooring derived from used tires, natural linoleum and certified woods, and cement countertops embedded with finds from the urban waste stream.

“This book can be a lifesaver for trees and our limited architectural horizons. It invites challenges to its critiques. Let the debate begin.” — Ralph Nader

“Building with Vision is timely and extremely useful, a must-have resource for every architectural studio across the country.” — Sim Van der Ryn architect, director of the Ecological Design Institute

About the Author Dan Imhoff has authored dozens of articles and essays on issues ranging from forest conservation and paper production to the global economy, sustainable agriculture, and green building. Imhoff’s articles have appeared in Sierra, Saveur, Whole Earth, Communication Arts, Orion Afield, and many books and journals. With his wife and two children, he lives part-time in an off-the-grid home produced with many certified and salvaged, wood and non-wood materials.

Born in Parma, Italy, Roberto Carra is an internationally renowned photographer, graphic designer, and art director.

softcover :: 9″ x 8″ :: 136 pages, color photographs :: b/w photographs bibliography :: resource list

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

Publisher: Community Builders Publication

ISBN: 0960442235

ISBN-13: 978-0960442232

Order From: Amazon.com
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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 customers 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.