The Bamboos

The Bamboos

The Bamboos

Author(s): F. A. McClure, Richard Haubrich, Lynn Clark

Publisher: Smithsonian Inst Press

Paperback: 368 pages

ISBN: 156098323X

ISBN-13: 978-1560983231

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The Bamboos Reprint Edition
Publication date: November 1993

Table of Contents
Introduction
Pt. I. The Bamboo Plant
1. Vegetative Phase: The Maturing Plant
2. Reproductive Phase
3. Vegetative Phase: The Seedling
Pt. II. Elite Bamboos and Propagation Methods
4. Selected Species
5. Propagation
Pt. III. Bases of Classification
6. Flowering and Fruiting Behavior in Bamboos of Different Genera and Species
7. Bamboos from the Point of View of Taxonomy
Appendix I. Generic Key to Bamboos under Cultivation in the United States and Puerto Rico
Glossary
Literature Cited
Index of Scientific Names
Index of Subjects

Building with Bamboo: A Handbook

Building with Bamboo: A Handbook

Building with Bamboo: A Handbook

Author(s): Jules Janssen

Publisher: Intermediate Technology

Paperback: 56 pages

ISBN: 1853392030

ISBN-13: 978-1853392030

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Bamboo is strong, stiff, hard and clean. It can be grown on a small scale and used in buildings, bridges, furniture and fences. But can it be used in cold climates? This book will help you answer that question for yourself. Here you’ll learn the anatomy of this prolific grass and the terminology that describes it. The heart of Building with Bamboo covers the nuts and bolts of engineering and construction, including topics such as strength and allowable load, cost comparison methodology, joinery, foundations, flooring, walls, windows and doors. It even discusses how bamboo can be used to reinforce concrete. With this book, you’ll learn how to work with bamboo to favor its strengths and avoid its weaknesses.

Bamboos

Bamboos

Bamboos

Author(s): Christine Recht, Max F. Wetterwald, David Crampton (Editor), Walters

Publisher: Timber Press

Hardcover: 128 pages

ISBN: 0881922684

ISBN-13: 978-0881922684

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The Bamboos Reprint Edition

Using bamboos as design elements is stressed in this encyclopedia of species particularly suited for use in the garden or in containers. It also provides essential information for growing these exotic treelike grasses successfully.

Paperback, 345 pages
Publication date: November 1993
Table of Contents
Introduction
Pt. I.
The Bamboo Plant
1. Vegetative Phase: The Maturing Plant
2. Reproductive Phase
3. Vegetative Phase: The Seedling
Pt. II. Elite Bamboos and Propagation Methods
4. Selected Species
5. Propagation Pt. III. Bases of Classification
6. Flowering and Fruiting Behavior in Bamboos of Different Genera and Species
7. Bamboos from the Point of View of Taxonomy
Appendix I. Generic Key to Bamboos under Cultivation in the United States and Puerto Rico
Glossary Literature Cited
Index of Scientific Names
Index of Subjects

Build an Extreme Green Hot Water Solar Collector

Build an Extreme Green Hot Water Solar Collector

Build an Extreme Green Hot Water Solar CollectorAuthor: Phillip Rastocny

Format: Kindle Edition

File Size: 836 KB

ASIN: B0043EWW7S

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These instructions describe how to build a passive solar hot water collector using your existing hot water heater. This solar collector uses no pumps or additional electricity to operate and assembled without pipe bending. The instructions include a complete materials list with prices and part numbers from a large well known hardware store.

The Second Edition adds a solar-powered pump solution when collector positioing, long pipe runs, or other issues do not permit proper thermo-siphoning. Also included is a new appendix for troubleshooting common issues, and small changes in the text body with new illustrations to further clarify some of the existing steps.

This is an advanced project that requires good skills in silver soldering and custom plumbing fabrication.

Discovering Your Old House

Discovering Your Old House

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’.
The Small Adobe House

The Small Adobe House

The Small Adobe House

Authors: Agnesa Reve, Robert Reck (photographer)

Publisher: Gibbs Smith; First Edition edition (July 18, 2001)

Hardcover: 76 pages

ISBN-10: 1586850652

ISBN-13: 978-1586850654

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Building or remodeling an adobe house is an artistic endeavor, with all the satisfaction–and occasional frustration–of any artistic effort. But once you’ve lived sheltered by adobe wall, you won’t want anything else. Whether the small adobe house is a work of art or a model of simplicity, it is by far the most appropriate house for the Southwest. The adobe serves as natural insulation, keeping the interior cool in summer and warm in winter, and muffling noise. No draft ever penetrates an adobe wall. The spaces of such a house accept with equal grace the basic curve of an Eames chair or the sumptuous gilding of Louis XIV. It is an easy house to live in. It is also easy to reshape. You may incorporate all sorts of modern ideas and still keep the classic look of the small adobe house, affording enjoyment of the newest conveniences within an enveloping tradition.

Adobe Houses for Today: Flexible Plans for Your Adobe Home

Adobe Houses for Today: Flexible Plans for Your Adobe Home

Adobe Houses for Today: Flexible Plans for Your Adobe Home

Author(s): Laura and Alex Sanchez

Publisher: Sunstone Press; Revised edition (April 9, 2008)

Paperback: 230 pages

ISBN-10: 0865346623

ISBN-13: 978-0865346628

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Since Adobe Houses for Today first appeared, interest in energy efficiency has exploded. Showing the pathway to smaller, solar tempered, easy-to-heat homes using adobe, one of the world’s most energy efficient building materials, makes this book about adobe houses not only for today, but also for tomorrow. Adobe Houses for Today features 12 plans for compact, beautifully proportioned adobe homes in modern and traditional styles. The richly illustrated text shows how the basic houses, designed for today’s smaller families, can be expanded and adapted to fit readers’ own budgets, family sizes, style preferences, and building sites. After a brief look at adobe’s rich history, Adobe Houses for Today surveys adobe’s advantages as a building material, illustrates adobe construction, and gives an eye-opening tour through the facts and fantasies of energy conservation. The heart of the book details the plans, using them as examples of design techniques that increase livability and control costs in any house. The book and its minimal-cost construction drawings are valuable, enjoyable tools for those buying, building, or remodeling a house. With this new edition, which includes an additional chapter with stories from people who have built the houses, construction drawings are now available for some of the expanded versions.

Adobe Houses for Today features 12 plans for compact, beautifully-proportioned adobe homes in modern and traditional styles. Yet the book offers much more. The richly-illustrated text shows how the basic houses, designed for today’s smaller families, can be as flexible as a set of building blocks. Intriguing drawings demonstrate how readers can expand and adapt the plans to fit their own budgets, family sizes, style preferences, and building sites.

After a brief look at adobe’s rich history, Adobe Houses for Today surveys adobe’s advantages as a building material. Next, readers take an eye-opening tour through the facts and fantasies of energy conservation. Then, the heart of the book illustrates the basic and expanded versions of the plans, using them as examples of design techniques that increase livability and control costs in any house. The book also explains site requirements, adobe construction, and estimating basics with an adobe house that “assembles itself.” Adobe Houses for Today and its associated construction drawings are valuable, enjoyable tools not only for those buying, building, or remodeling a house, but also for contractors, drafters, drafting teachers, and real estate professionals.

Award-winning author Laura Sanchez previously ran a drafting business that specialized in adobe houses. She called it quits sometime after the 250th set of plans, but maintains an abiding interest in designing the very best, most cost-effective houses possible. Alex Sanchez, who grew up building houses, has taught courses in adobe construction and solar energy. He founded and currently heads the renowned computer-aided drafting program at the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus. The authors’ previous books and CDs concern architectural computer graphics.

 

 

Solar Radiation and Daylight Models for the Energy Efficient Design of Buildings

Solar Radiation and Daylight Models for the Energy Efficient Design of Buildings

Solar Radiation and Daylight Models for the Energy Efficient Design of Buildings

Author(s): H. Kambezidis, Tariq Muneer, Peter Tregenza

Publisher: Architectural Press (September 29, 1997)

Paperback: 224 pages

ISBN: 0750624957

ISBN-13: 978-0750624954

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Book & Cd-Rom Edition

This book and CD Rom package provides an accessible, user-friendly database on daylight design data. With the boom in interest in energy-efficiency and solar design, it provides a valuable source for architects and engineers.

It describes models which can be used to provide essential data at any place in the world. These models are included on a disk to ease the task of the architect or engineers. The authors show how these models can be applied to the energy efficient design of buildings.

—

‘The value of this book is that an expert in the subject has made a personal selection of applicable formulae, and presented them in a comprehensive and consistent format, both on paper and in the form of computer programs. Books such as this are indispensable references for the research worker and for the practising engineer.’
Peter Tregenza, The University of Sheffield

The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design to Heat and Cool Your Home

The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design to Heat and Cool Your Home

The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design to Heat and Cool Your Home

Author(s): James Kachadorian

Publisher: Chelsea Green Pub Co

Paperback: 220 pages

ISBN: 0930031970

ISBN-13: 978-0930031978

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Published in concert with the Real Goods Trading Company of California, this book explains in detail the whys and wherefores of a particular form of passive solar design, formerly patented but now in the public domain. The patent was held by the author and used while he was president of Green Mountain Homes, a fabricator of post-and-beam kit homes. The science he used and describes here is settled and elegant, even quaint, and is detailed to a degree that could be off-putting to some readers. On the bright side, the enthusiasm he brings to the subject is useful, even to those prospective homebuilders who may not be interested in solar heating and cooling. The book is suffused with a sensitivity to environmental issues of all sorts, a useful perspective in these resource-limited times. An essentially simple book, elegant in presentation and forceful in argument; recommended for extensive scientific (for the references and associated calculations) and/or broader home-building collections. -Alexander Hartmann, INFOPHILE, Williamsport, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Finally there is a contemporary book that demonstrates the potential for heating and cooling a home with free energy. This new volume is a welcome addition to the canon of indispensable solar construction books, bringing fully up to date for the 1990s the legendary promise of 1970s-era solar pioneers: the promise of a home that heats and cools itself with minimal use of a back-up furnace.Whether you are adopting the model developed by Jim Kachadorian or using another designer’s layout and plan, The Passive Solar House will provide you with pragmatic, immediately applicable solar design advice that is usable in any region or climate. Information includes:
— Proper siting and strategic window selection and placement
— Energy and money-saving construction tips
— Ideal air-exchange rates, and ways to avoid overheating
— Methods for gauging and maximizing thermal mass
— Criteria for sizing of back-up heating systems
— Interior design for year-round comfort

This book is brimful of worthwhile, constructive how-to advice, and gives readers the basis for understanding the hows and whys of solar design, including a succinct presentation of ten key solar-design principles that have defined and guided solar architecture for thousands of years.

 

Card catalog description
This book offers a technique for building homes that heat and cool themselves in a wide range of different climates, using ordinary building materials available anywhere and with methods familiar to all building contractors and many do-it-yourselfers. A formerly patented design for author James Kachadorian’s Solar Slab heat exchanger is now available for the use of anyone motivated by the desire to build a house that needs a backup furnace or air conditioner rarely if ever. This is a building book for the next century. Applicable to a diversity of regions, climates, budgets, and styles of architecture, Kachadorian’s techniques translate the essentials of timeless solar design (siting a home in harmony with nature, using windows as solar collectors, achieving year-round comfort by balancing good insulation with healthy supplies of fresh air) into practical wisdom for today’s new generation of solar builders. Customer Comments bereznov@worldnet.att.net from Longmont, Colorado , 10/25/97, rating=9:
Passive solar design basics, formulae and needed databases An excellent book for the beginner in passive solar home design with a cookbook approach and worksheets to calculate the solar performance of you building design. Usefull tables needed for calculations are included but only for a limited number of localities. Based upon a sound, albiet more than 20 year old, approach to passive solar design. An easy to understand process for the design of a truely passive home with methods to determine the need for and cost of supplemental heat in many areas of the country. Principles throughout the book may be applied to other designs. A detailed explanation and instructions on building the solar slab. Well worth the price of admission!

Table of Contents
1. Let Nature Heat Your Home
2. The Passive Solar Concept
3. The Solar Slab and Basic Solar Design
4. Insulation, Venting, and Fresh Air
5. Basic Layouts and Floor Plans
6. How to Do the Solar Design Calculations
7. The Foundation Plan, and Backup Heating and Cooling
8. A Sidehill Variation, and Solar Design Worksheets
9. Sunspaces, and Special Design Considerations
10. Interior Design for Year-Round Comfort By Cornelia C. Kachadorian
App. 1. Solar Design Worksheets
App. 2. Solar Intensity and Solar Heat Gain Factors for 16 to 64 degrees North Latitude
App. 3. Thermal Properties of Typical Building and Insulating Materials (Design Values)
App. 4. North Latitude, Elevation, and Outside Winter Design Temperatures for Selected Cities in the U.S. and Canada
App. 5. Average Monthly and Yearly Degree Days for Cities in the U.S. and Canada
App. 6. Mean Percentage of Possible Sunshine for Selected Cities in the U.S. and Canada
App. 7. Isogonic Chart (Magnetic Declination)
Index

Small Houses (Great Houses)

Small Houses (Great Houses)

Small Houses (Great Houses)

Publisher: Taunton Press

Paperback: 160 pages

ISBN: 1561581062

ISBN-13: 978-1561581061

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Small Houses (Great Houses: Fine Homebuilding)

Paperback
September 1995
Color photos, floor plans.
160 pages

In these economically depressed times, which include a slumping housing market, how does one justify the appearance of another book on building a new home? This volume is the second in a three-book series made up of articles collected from 10 years of Fine Homebuilding . The 37 examples included here are carefully selected as the antidote for an industry in temporary decline. There’s more than a hint of a deliberate return to attitudes and concerns of the near past that were so smugly trashed in the ’80s: that small is better and that energy efficiency can help lead us to a more environmentally sound future. The shrinking availability and more effective use of space are pointedly addressed. The featured houses fit into modest plots of land, and are geared to suit the empty nesters, small families and singles, as well as the vacation or second home owner. The editors have assembled handsome and interesting design solutions that are stylistically American, from saltbox, barn and Victorian cottage to ranch house, urban studio apartment and cabin.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Small houses are less expensive to build, more energy efficient, and easier to maintain than big homes, but they don’t have to feel small. In this collection of 37 articles from FINE HOMEBUILDING magazine, you’ll find new houses, remodels, urban rowhouses, and guest cottages that double as work studios. A book full of practical design ideas and construction information that will help you realize just how beautiful small can be.