The Complete Guide to Green Building & Remodeling Your Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply (Back-To-Basics) (Back to Basics: Building)

The Complete Guide to Green Building & Remodeling Your Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply (Back-To-Basics) (Back to Basics: Building) Review

In today s economy and socially conscious environment regarding the environment, many people cannot afford not to start considering ways they can build or remodel their home to ensure it is green. With scientific sources such as the UN council on global warming making statements about the degradation of ice flow and environmental conditions by 2050 and the likelihood that crude oil sources will be used up within the next fifty years, it is especially necessary for young families to consider the implications of reexamining their homes and living situations to be more green. This book will guide you and your family through the process of learning more about and implementing the necessary changes and perspectives needed to change your home or build a new home that is environmentally conscious and prepared for the changing economic and environmental climate in the coming decades. You will learn why people have started to build green and how it can be done in today s regulatory and cost conditions quickly and inexpensively. You will learn how to remodel with green in mind and how to start working with building professionals that can provide the necessary materials, plans, and paperwork you need to proceed. You will learn which materials are best for green building by lifespan and how to choose between various green materials. You will learn how to not only use green materials but to make sure the construction process is green as well. You will learn the basics of framing your building, natural building methods, the energy systems you might use, and the heating cooling options at your disposal. Construction and environmental experts have been interviewed and their expertise is included in this book to help you learn everything you need to accomplish the above as well as to know what kinds of water and waste systems are best, how to site plan and landscape your home, and what the most common myths about green building are. You will learn ten things you can do on any building project to keep it green and any materials you should always have on hand for anything you do around the house. Regardless of whether you are just looking to remodel to make your house greener or are building a new home, this book will give you everything you need to stay green and respect the environment with your home.

The Natural Building Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Integrative Design and Construction--Instructional DVD Included

The Natural Building Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Integrative Design and Construction--Instructional DVD Included Review

A State-of-the-Art Resource for Natural Builders that is a part of The Yestermorrow Design/Build Library and includes an instructional DVD

Natural buildings not only bring satisfaction to their makers and joy to their occupants, they also leave the gentlest footprint on the environment. In this complete reference to natural building philosophy, design, and technique, Jacob Deva Racusin and Ace McArleton walk builders through planning and construction, offering step-by-step instructions on:

• siting and site analysis
• choosing materials
• integrating basic structural considerations into a design
• strategies for heating/cooling efficiency and moisture management
• planning for acoustics
• developing an integrative design
• navigating budgeting, code compliance, and project management
• creating the foundation, wall system, roof, and floors
• selecting and making plasters and paints
• evaluating options for mechanical and utility systems
• protecting against fire and insects
• integrating structures within landscape, climate, and human communities

...and more

Applicable to building in climates that are cold and wet, hot and dry, or somewhere in-between, The Natural Building Companion provides the tools necessary to understand basic principles of building science, including structural and thermal engineering, and hydrodynamics. This guide offers thorough, up-to-date, and advanced installation details and performance characteristics of straw-bale, straw-clay, woodchip-clay, and cellulose wall systems, as well as earthen and stone wall systems and a variety of framing, roofing, flooring, mechanical system, and finishing options. This fully-illustrated volume informs professionals making the transition from conventional building, homeowners embarking on their own construction, or green builders who want comprehensive guidance on natural-building options.

The Natural Building Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Integrative Design and Construction

The Natural Building Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Integrative Design and Construction Review

A State-of-the-Art Resource for Natural Builders

Natural buildings not only bring satisfaction to their makers and joy to their occupants, they also leave the gentlest footprint on the environment. In this complete reference to natural building philosophy, design, and technique, Jacob Deva Racusin and Ace McArleton walk builders through planning and construction, offering step-by-step instructions on:

• siting and site analysis
• choosing materials
• integrating basic structural considerations into a design
• strategies for heating/cooling efficiency and moisture management
• planning for acoustics
• developing an integrative design
• navigating budgeting, code compliance, and project management
• creating the foundation, wall system, roof, and floors
• selecting and making plasters and paints
• evaluating options for mechanical and utility systems
• protecting against fire and insects
• integrating structures within landscape, climate, and human communities

...and more

Applicable to building in climates that are cold and wet, hot and dry, or somewhere in-between, The Natural Building Companion provides the tools necessary to understand basic principles of building science, including structural and thermal engineering, and hydrodynamics. This guide offers thorough, up-to-date, and advanced installation details and performance characteristics of straw-bale, straw-clay, woodchip-clay, and cellulose wall systems, as well as earthen and stone wall systems and a variety of framing, roofing, flooring, mechanical system, and finishing options. This fully-illustrated volume informs professionals making the transition from conventional building, homeowners embarking on their own construction, or green builders who want comprehensive guidance on natural-building options.

The book, part of the The Yestermorrow Design/Build Library, is accompanied by an instructional DVD.

Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies

Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies Review

Want to build responsibly, reduce waste, and help preserve the environment? Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies is your friendly, step-by-step guide to every facet of this Earth-friendly method of construction. Building a home—even a green home—uses plenty of resources and energy. This practical, hands-on book shows you how to build or remodel conscientiously, whether your dream home is a simple remodel or a brand-new multimillion-dollar mansion.

You’ll start by identifying green materials and sizing up potential systems and construction sites. You’ll weigh the pros and cons of popular green building methods and identify opportunities for saving money in the long run. Need to find some green professionals to assist you in your venture? We’ll help you do that, too. This book will also help you discover how to:

• Understand the lifecycle of building materials
• Choose the right system for your green building project
• Put together a green team
• Work within your budget
• Use green building methods and sustainable systems
• Speed construction and reduce energy use and waste
• Refinish old fixtures and materials
• Beware of asbestos and lead-paint hazards
• Avoid costly mistakes

Complete with lists of ten green things to do on every project and ten things you can do right now in your home in order to go green, Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies is your one-stop guide to planning and building the home you’ve always wanted.

Building Green in a Black and White World

Building Green in a Black and White World Review

Building Green in a Black and White World transforms the rising interest in living in green homes into practical ways to satisfy the environmentally conscious homebuyer. Drawing on over 30 years in the building industry, the author provides a guide for both builders and buyers to everything from the home design process through to green substitutes for products ranging from foundations to roofs, along with case studies of successful green companies and useful resources.

David R. Johnston was named one of the top 50 remodelers in the U.S. by Remodeling Magazine in 1990, developed the first green remodeling program in the country in Boulder, Colorado, and is creating a national green certification program for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

The Simply Solar House: Green Building on a Budget

The Simply Solar House: Green Building on a Budget Review

The Simply Solar House: Green Building on a Budget Feature

• ISBN13: 9780977490691
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

"The Simply Solar House" is unique in its practical approach to designing a highly energy efficient house using common construction materials and practices. Drawing upon their experience building a solar house in central North Carolina, the authors describe the key features of energy efficient home design in simple and easy to understand language. This book is the perfect guide for cost conscious homebuilders who are inspired by the Green Revolution and passionate about preserving our environmental quality.

The Resourceful Renovator: A Gallery of Ideas for Reusing Building Materials

The Resourceful Renovator: A Gallery of Ideas for Reusing Building Materials Review

Great ideas for using building elements from salvage shops and/or flea markets to add interest and architectural beauty to your home

Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies®

Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies® Review

Want to build responsibly, reduce waste, and help preserve the environment? Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies is your friendly, step-by-step guide to every facet of this Earth-friendly method of construction. Building a home—even a green home—uses plenty of resources and energy. This practical, hands-on book shows you how to build or remodel conscientiously, whether your dream home is a simple remodel or a brand-new multimillion-dollar mansion.

You’ll start by identifying green materials and sizing up potential systems and construction sites. You’ll weigh the pros and cons of popular green building methods and identify opportunities for saving money in the long run. Need to find some green professionals to assist you in your venture? We’ll help you do that, too. This book will also help you discover how to:

• Understand the lifecycle of building materials
• Choose the right system for your green building project
• Put together a green team
• Work within your budget
• Use green building methods and sustainable systems
• Speed construction and reduce energy use and waste
• Refinish old fixtures and materials
• Beware of asbestos and lead-paint hazards
• Avoid costly mistakes

Complete with lists of ten green things to do on every project and ten things you can do right now in your home in order to go green, Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies is your one-stop guide to planning and building the home you’ve always wanted.

Adobe Homes for All Climates: Simple, Affordable, and Earthquake-Resistant Natural Building Techniques

Adobe Homes for All Climates: Simple, Affordable, and Earthquake-Resistant Natural Building Techniques Review

Adobe Homes for All Climates: Simple, Affordable, and Earthquake-Resistant Natural Building Techniques Feature

• ISBN13: 9781603582575
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

The lay-up of adobe bricks is an easy, forgiving way to achieve a solid masonry-wall system. Contrary to stereotypes, adobe is perfectly adaptable for use in cold, wet climates as well as hot and dry ones, and for areas prone to earthquakes. With its efficient use of energy, natural resources for construction, and minimal effort for long-term maintenance, it's clear that the humble adobe brick is an ideal option for constructing eco-friendly structures throughout the world.

The book is ideal both for first-time do-it-yourselfers and for experienced adobe builders seeking to improve their craft. Drawing on the experience of more than fifty major adobe projects since 1993, Adobe Homes for all Climates describes Adobe Building Systems' patented reinforcement and scaffolding systems, showing readers how to construct adobe homes more easily and safely, and with superior strength, durability, structural integrity, and aesthetic appeal, as compared to earthen homes of the past.

All aspects of adobe construction are covered, including making and laying adobe bricks, installing lintels and arches, conduits and pipes, doors and windows, top plates and bondbeams, ideal wall dimensions, adobe finishes, and other adobe construction components, such as the inexpensive use of scaffolding. These methods will produce a premium product that will meet and often exceed inspection standards.

Equipped with this manual, you will be able to obtain a building permit, make adobe bricks swiftly, and confidently lay them up. You will be able to beautifully finish your adobe walls with earth plasters creating stunning colors and outstanding light effects and create a beautiful, energy-efficient home that will last for generations to come.

Green Building Handbook Volumes 1 and 2: Green Building Handbook: Volume 2: A Guide to Building Products and their Impact on the Environment

Green Building Handbook Volumes 1 and 2: Green Building Handbook: Volume 2: A Guide to Building Products and their Impact on the Environment Review

This key handbook provides a detailed reference for environmentally concerned purchasers of building products, and complements the Green Building Handbook Vol 1. Following the format of the original, this book discusses current issues in green building before moving on to consider eight building component types: fencing products, flat roofing membranes, glazing products, electrical wiring, adhesives, straw bale building, interior decoration and indoor air quality and ventilation. Invaluable for the specifier, this companion handbook will be useful to all those interested in finding greener ways of designing and making buildings.

Building with Straw Bales

Building with Straw Bales Review

Straw bale building is a radically different approach to the process of building. Like all innovative ideas, it has been pioneered by the passionate, and used experimentally by those with the vision to see its potential. It is firmly based in that sustainable, ëgreen buildingí culture that has brought to the construction industry many new and useful ideas about energy efficiency and responsibility towards the environment. As a building material, straw excels in the areas of cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency.This practical guide has been written by the most experienced straw bale builder in the UK. It gives details of all the main construction methods, and includes:ï bale specificationsï plansï walls and foundationsï doors and windowsï plasteringï building regulations and planning permissionï frequently asked questionsï construction drawings.This fully revised and updated edition includes new construction drawings, standard details for best practice design, examples of off-the-peg drawings for small buildings such as summer-houses and studios, and designs for affordable houses. These designs meet Building Regulations Code 6 for sustainable homes, and have a carbon rating of less than zero.

The Complete Guide to Green Building & Remodeling Your Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply (Back-To-Basics)

The Complete Guide to Green Building & Remodeling Your Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply (Back-To-Basics) Review

In today s economy and socially conscious environment regarding the environment, many people cannot afford not to start considering ways they can build or remodel their home to ensure it is green. With scientific sources such as the UN council on global warming making statements about the degradation of ice flow and environmental conditions by 2050 and the likelihood that crude oil sources will be used up within the next fifty years, it is especially necessary for young families to consider the implications of reexamining their homes and living situations to be more green. This book will guide you and your family through the process of learning more about and implementing the necessary changes and perspectives needed to change your home or build a new home that is environmentally conscious and prepared for the changing economic and environmental climate in the coming decades. You will learn why people have started to build green and how it can be done in today s regulatory and cost conditions quickly and inexpensively. You will learn how to remodel with green in mind and how to start working with building professionals that can provide the necessary materials, plans, and paperwork you need to proceed. You will learn which materials are best for green building by lifespan and how to choose between various green materials. You will learn how to not only use green materials but to make sure the construction process is green as well. You will learn the basics of framing your building, natural building methods, the energy systems you might use, and the heating cooling options at your disposal. Construction and environmental experts have been interviewed and their expertise is included in this book to help you learn everything you need to accomplish the above as well as to know what kinds of water and waste systems are best, how to site plan and landscape your home, and what the most common myths about green building are. You will learn ten things you can do on any building project to keep it green and any materials you should always have on hand for anything you do around the house. Regardless of whether you are just looking to remodel to make your house greener or are building a new home, this book will give you everything you need to stay green and respect the environment with your home.

Building Today's Green Home: Practical, Cost-Effective and Eco-Responsible Homebuilding (Popular Woodworking)

Building Today's Green Home: Practical, Cost-Effective and Eco-Responsible Homebuilding (Popular Woodworking) Review

Homebuyers and homebuilders are focusing more on 'right-sizing' their dream home instead of mortgaging their dreams away. "Today's Dream Home" targets three audiences: mid-to-late baby boomers who are down-sizing their homes (approximately 40 million); readers who are actively looking for Green building methods for their next home and retirees who are facing fixed-income concerns. The author uses both how-to and descriptive methods to guide the reader to the right home for their needs.

Building Green, New Edition: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods Earth Plaster * Straw Bale * Cordwood * Cob * Living Roofs (Building Green: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative)

Building Green, New Edition: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods Earth Plaster * Straw Bale * Cordwood * Cob * Living Roofs (Building Green: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative) Review

The best-selling and highly regarded reference to sustainable construction gets an update! It’s refreshed with a completely revised introduction, a bright new cover, and extensive online resource tie-ins. Plus, it’s now printed on recycled paper with agri-based inks, so it’s greener than ever!

This groundbreaking book doesn’t just tell you about “green” house-building techniques: it actually shows you, with more than 1,200 step-by-step photographs that follow the actual erection of an alternative building from site selection to final-touch interior details. Readers will get a clear sense of the real world challenges as Snell and Callahan create a lovely country cottage using four methods: straw bale, cob, cordwood, and modified stick-frame.

Along with sidebars throughout, there’s a thorough discussion of the fundamentals of building construction, alternative approaches, and designing a beautiful yet environmentally responsible home. Building Green was the first book of its kind—and it remains heads and shoulders above other titles in this field.  

 

Independent Builder: Designing & Building a House Your Own Way (Real Goods Independent Living Book)

Independent Builder: Designing & Building a House Your Own Way (Real Goods Independent Living Book) Review

This is a comprehensive manual of design and building methods for owner-builders as well as professional builders and their clients. In addition to presenting specific building techniques, the book explains the design principles and planning processes that underlie all good building, so that readers can develop their own exceptional designs, independently.
The Real Goods Independent Builder develops subjects not covered thoroughly in other books, but critical to success:

Designing small houses that seem big

Understanding innovation

Estimating and controlling costs

Incorporating ergonomics and accessibility

Doing drawings and scale models

Making contracts that work

Profit from Building Green: Award Winning Tips to Build Energy Efficient Homes

Profit from Building Green: Award Winning Tips to Build Energy Efficient Homes Review

Develop an effective green home building business with the NAHB Research Center's resident expert, Jeannie Leggett Sikora. She has combed through hundreds of annual contest entries and talked to past award winners to develop specific examples and tried-and-true techniques to give home builders the inside track to create successful green building practices, for choosing products to marketing energy efficient homes.

The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage: The Real Goods Solar Living Book

The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage: The Real Goods Solar Living Book Review

Are you ready for the Cob Cottage? This is a building method so old and so simple that it has been all but forgotten in the rush to synthetics. A cob cottage,cobb, however, might be the ultimate expression of ecological design, a structure so attuned to its surroundings that its creators refer to it as "an ecstatic house."
The authors build a house the way others create a natural garden. They use the oldest, most available materials imaginable--earth, clay, sand, straw, and water--and blend them to redefine the future (and past) of building. Cob (the word comes from an Old English root, meaning "lump") is a mixture of non-toxic, recyclable, and often free materials. Building with cob requires no forms, no cement, and no machinery of any kind. Builders actually sculpt their structures by hand.
Building with earth is nothing new to America; the oldest structures on the continent were built with adobe bricks. Adobe, however, has been geographically limited to the Southwest. The limits of cob are defined only by the builder's imagination.
Cob offers answers regarding our role in Nature, family and society, about why we feel the ways that we do, about what's missing in our lives. Cob comes as a revelation, a key to a saner world.
Cob has been a traditional building process for millennia in Europe, even in rainy and windy climates like the British Isles, where many cob buildings still serve as family homes after hundreds of years. The technique is newly arrived to the Americas, and, as with so many social trends, the early adopters are in the Pacific Northwest.
Cob houses (or cottages, since they are always efficiently small by American construction standards) are not only compatible with their surroundings, they ARE their surroundings, literally rising up from the earth. They are full of light, energy-efficient, and cozy, with curved walls and built-in, whimsical touches. They are delightful. They are ecstatic.