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

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.

Buildings of Earth and Straw : Structural Design for Rammed Earth and Straw Bale Architecture

Author(s): Bruce King

Publisher: Chelsea Green

ISBN: 0964471817

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Buildings of Earth and Straw : Structural Design for Rammed Earth and Straw Bale Architecture

Paperback, 169 pages
Publication date: April 1997

Chelsea Green’s The Rammed Earth House and The Straw Bale House chronicle the possibilities and realities of straw bale and rammed earth construction. Buildings of Earth and Strawfills in the gaps for professional builders, contractors, engineers, inspectors, lenders, and architectural students. It includes special construction requirements of earth and straw, design capabilities and limitations of these materials, and documentation of testing data for use in addressing the concerns of officials. This book offers the nuts and bolts of rammed earth and straw bale building techniques, and why they are so spectacular, durable, and earth-friendly.

Review

“Bruce King has produced a book that is both long overdue and quite timely. While I find most technical books to be dry, uninteresting, and difficult to read, Bruce has managed to provide technical information in an accessible and entertaining manner. Although parts of his book will admittedly require engineering training to understand, even the uninitiated builder will find a wealth of usable material here.”
Bob Fowler, FAIA, PE, PBO past Chairman, International Conference of Building Officials, founding member, International Codes Council

“A revolution in environmentally friendly house construction is arriving. In this book, Bruce King explores the details and methods for building durable and safe earth and straw houses.”
Sim Van der Ryn, Architect, Educator, Author of Ecological Design

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Who Would Want to Read This Book, and Why?

Earth and Straw: Natural Companions

What We Will and Will Not Talk About

A Footnote About Bamboo…

Part One: BASICS

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Glossary

Structures and Forces

Physical Forces That Act On Structures

Some Other Variables

Foundations

Gravity Loads

Lateral Loads

In-plane Forces

Out-of-plane Forces

Earthquake Loads

Other Lateral Force Systems

Part Two: EARTH

The Material

Stabilized Earth

Rammed Earth

Gunearth

Stabilized Earth Mix Design–A Case Study

density and chemistry tests

compressive strength tests

moisture exposure tests

bond strength tests

fastener tests

admixture tests

absorptivity tests

erosion and wear resistance tests

Analysis

Design in Non-seismic Areas

Design in Seismic Areas

Foundations

Bond Beams

Lateral Loads

Analysis Method

Design and Construction Considerations

Stabilized Earth

Rammed Earth

Gunearth

Sample Calculations

Case 1: Seismic zone 2B

check h/t ratio

axial compressive stress at top of footing

Case 2: Seismic zone 4, wall cantilevered

check h/t ratio

horizontal earthquake load

compressive bending stress

shear stress

tensile bending stress in reinforcing

Case 3: Seismic zone 4, same wall restrained at top

horizontal earthquake load

design fc

compressive bending stress

shear stress

tensile bending stress in reinforcing

wall connection at top

Conclusions

Appendix E-1: Soil References

Appendix E-2: Soil-cement References

Appendix E-3: Sample Specification

Part Three: STRAW

The Material

Straw

Bales

Bale Variables

Bale Wall Types

Test Results–Straw Bale and Wall Properties

Bou-Ali test, Tucson, Arizona

SHB AGRA test, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Ship Harbour Project test, Nova Scotia

Fibrehouse Limited test, Ottawa, Ontario

Analysis

Load-bearing Straw-bale Walls

Gravity (Vertical) Loading

Lateral Loading: Wind

Lateral Loading: Earthquake

Non-load-bearing Straw-bale Walls

Design and Construction Considerations

Bales and Pinning

Wall Settling

Moisture

Fire

Sample Calculations

Case 1: Load-bearing Walls

design for bale bearing and precompression

check plaster skin in compression

design for out-of-plane shear

design for in-plane shear

Case 2: Non-load-bearing Walls

design for bale bearing and precompression

design for out-of-plane shear

design for in-plane shear

Conclusions

Appendix S-1: Straw Panels

Pyramod International, Inc., City of Industry, California

Stramit, U.S.A. L.L.C., Perryton, Texas

BioFab, Redding, California

Meadowood, Albany, Oregon

Conclusions

Appendix S-2: California Straw-bale Code

References

General

Stabilized Earth

Straw

Seismic Zone Map of the United States

Unit Conversion Tables

Base Units

SI Prefixes

SI Derived Unites with Special Names

Conversion Factors

Index

Circle Houses

Author(s): David Pearson

Publisher: Chelsea Green (October 1, 2001)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1890132861

ISBN-13: 978-1890132866

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Nature is filled with circles and animal homes are no exception. From bird nests to beaver lodges, it’s difficult for find an angle. Nomadic people continued the pattern. Round-shaped homes, echoing natural forms, have sheltered human families since the dawn of recorded time. Given this bias toward circles, it’s surprising how unusual circular houses are in industrialized society. In our disconnected world, the circle has given way to the box.

As David Pearson explains in his introduction, “Like our nomadic ancestors, many of us have a deep yearning to roam with the seasons and be close to nature and the cosmos. The traditional forms of the yurt, tipi and bender are the apogee of this experience. . . . Nomadic populations live in some of the most inhospitable and barren regions of the world and this is why they are nomads. Whether it be the deserts of the Sahara and Gobi, the steppes of Mongolia, or the polar tundras, these vast areas are either too hot and arid or too cold and windswept to be cultivated. An African grass-covered hut, a Romany gypsy ‘bender,’ an Asian yurt, or a Native American tipi are all perfect lessons in appropriate design and sustainable building. Refined over generations, they are simple yet sophisticated, beautiful and comfortable.”

Remarkable for their economy, resilience and portability, these structures have continued to exert a powerful appeal in modern times. And beyond practicality, what the circle dwellers in this book speak of most eloquently is the incomparable spiritual resonance of round homes, which “represent the universe in microcosm: the floor (Earth), the roof (sky), and the hole in the roof (the sun).”

Circle Houses is a fascinating glimpse of tradition meeting timelessness, filled with stories of 21st-century nomads and complete with basic instructions for designing and constructing your own yurt, tipi or bent-frame tent.

About the Author David Pearson is an architect and the author of several acclaimed books on natural design.

Hardcover, 95 pages

Earth-Sheltered Dwellings in Tunisa: Ancient Lessons for Modern Design

Author(s): Gideon S. Golany

Publisher: Univ of Delaware Press

ISBN: 0874132975

ISBN-13: 978-0874132977

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Earth-Sheltered Dwellings in Tunisa : Ancient Lessons for Modern Design Hardcover Publication date: October 1988

This contributes to an understanding of the traditionally evolved system of below-ground housing and suggest show the design of modern earth-sheltered space can be improved. Within the context of Tunisian underground dwellings, this book studies heat gain and loss, and presents field research on the plan, operation, and functional aspects of such housing.

Homing Instinct: Using Your Lifestyle to Design & Build Your Home

Author(s): John Connell

Paperback: 448 pages

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 1 edition (December 31, 1998)

ISBN: 0070123462

ISBN-13: 978-0070123465

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Although it’s not a “how-to” book, Homing Instinct is filled with nuts-and-bolts details along with clever construction ideas. The book is really about the design and how to make the myriad choices that go into a home. At every step, Connell describes architectural fundamentals and effective building techniques to support your design decisions and resolve questions of cost, durability, design, intent and self-expression. You’ll see how things really work, from foundation and framing, to plumbing and electricity, to selecting the right materials and products. Concern for the environment is woven into every topic including passive solar energy, insulation, material selection, grey water treatment and much more. A robust appendix provides detailed design information, including a program questionnaire, heat loss calculations, span tables and foundation design. This richly detailed, forward-thinking book can help you create a house that perfectly expresses who you are–physically, emotionally and spiritually. 448 pages, 1998

EEBA Builder’s Guide to Mixed-Humid Climates

Builder's Guide to Mixed-Humid Climates Author: Joseph Lstiburek

ISBN: 0975512722

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The North American Mixed Climate edition of the Builder’s Guide now provides the building industry with the latest and best practical information on how to apply building science principles to structures as systems in mixed-humid “temperate” climate regions.

The Timeless Way of Building

Author(s): Christopher Alexander

Publisher: Oxford Univ Press

ISBN: 0195024028

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The Timeless Way of Building

A breathtaking and profound book. It is amazing how a book that propounds revolutionary architectural theory has stirred up the computer software industry. This deeply philosophical book, which is very practical and rigorous, lays the foundation for developing pattern languages. The book is all about a common language that can be shared to build artifacts that are alive. It stresses that a design should always concentrate on the whole and not on assembling parts. It also shows the power of distributed processing, if you will, as against centralized processing. All the great principles have one thing in common. They are simple. And, after one realizes such a simple but profound principle, one can not stop wondering how one survived without its knowledge. This book gives that feeling. If you are involved in architecture of any sort- buildings, software, organization or even politics- this book is a must for you.

Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design

Author(s): Max Jacobson, Murray Silverstein, Barbara Winslow

Publisher: Taunton Press

ISBN: 1561585335

Cost: $34.95

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Product Description:
Clearly written and profusely illustrated, Patterns of Home brings the timeless lessons of residential design to homeowners who seek inspiration and direction in the design or remodel of their homes. Patterns of Home promises to become the “design bible” for homeowners and architects. The 10 patterns described in the book — among them, “capturing light” and “the flow through rooms” — are drawn from hundreds of principles and presented with clarity by the authors, renowned architects who have designed homes together for more than 30 years. Insightful tours of 33 homes also bring the essential design concepts to life. This book will jump-start the design process and make the difference between a home that satisfies material requirements — and one that meets the personal needs of a home. “Patterns of Home gives us the tools to make our houses truly wonderful places to live.” — Sarah Susanka

300 photos and 50 illustrations
282 pages, hardcover, 2002

Review

Preface

Introduction

Part One: BASICS

Part Two: EARTH

Part Three: STRAW

Index

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