Designing Your Natural Home

Designing Your Natural Home Review

One of the pioneers of incorporating the green movement into home design, David Pearson now offers a complete guide for creating an eco-home. Informative, clear, and with factual advice, tips, and beautiful color photos, Designing Your Natural Home takes readers through each step of the process, from defining the scope of the project to choosing materials and building methods to decorating the new abode.

Along with practical, how-to information, photo essays present inspiring and stylish examples of natural design. The ten innovative homes featured in this book exemplify different solutions for every situation and budget, from apartments to sprawling dwellings. Readers will learn how to make the most of small spaces, find a builder, draw up plans, purchase low energy appliances, and much more.

Whether they're renovating an existing space, expanding a house, or starting from scratch, readers will be inspired to create the natural home of their dreams with this indispensable guide and source for fresh ideas.

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