BUILDERS' HOMES FOR BETTER LIVING

Builders' Homes for Better Living deals with the business of building; materials and methods of structure; design concepts of the house; relationship of the house to the individual lot and landscaping; and community planning. Since the builder house will continue to be constructed and sold, the welfare of the community, and the nation as a whole, will be strongly affected by the manner in which this is done. This book therefore, is an invaluable source of information to all interested in an improving pattern of living - builders, architects, engineers, site planners, civic leaders, investment agencies and especially the individual buyer, who, for the first time, will have a basis for judging the over-all merits of his prospective purchase.

Joseph Eichler, a truly progressive builder, whose untiring efforts have advanced greatly the concepts of todays development houses, this book is respectfully dedicated.

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

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

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Patios and Walkways 1-2-3: Design and Build Beautiful Outdoor Living Spaces (Expert Advice from the Home Depot)

• Design and installation techniques, tips, and shortcuts used by professionals

• Provides step-by-step instructions, timeframe for completing plus skills and materials lists

• "Wisdom of the Aisles" on every page guarantees success

• Details how to design, layout, maintain, and work with a variety of materials in building patios and walkways

• Features walkways using soft set paths, hard bed paths, brick and paver patterns, and boardwalks

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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)

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.  

 

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The New City Home: Smart Solutions for Metro Living

- Profiles 25 homes in major metropolitan areas.

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Your Green Home: A Guide to Planning a Healthy, Environmentally Friendly New Home (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)

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.

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New Green Home Solutions: Renewable Household Energy and Sustainable Living

Green living begins at home, and New Green Home Solutions tells you how. Most of the energy-derived pollution we produce comes as a direct result of our homes - how we heat them, how we cool them, how we keep them well-lit and full of things that make our lives so comfortable. The good news is that we have tremendous power to create change. Renewable energy design, better insulation and more efficient appliances could reduce energy demands by 60 to 80 percent. By embracing conservation and renewable energy, we can win our energy independence and help save the planet. 

Dave Bonta, president and founder of USA Solar Stores, the largest alternative energy retailer in the Northeast, has written about alternative energy and sustainable living for Green Living, Back Home Magazine, Alternative Energy Retailer and The Vermont Guardian. Bonta has studied renewable energy and energy efficiency for more than twenty years, is a frequent speaker at major green energy conferences across America and is a tireless advocate for green living. Also president of BioQuantum, Inc., a bio-fuels company, Bonta is the creator of BackHome chapters in America and is president of a renewable energy community organization, The Sustainable Valley Group.

Stephen Snyder, communications director for USA Solar Stores, is also the author of The Brewmaster's Bible (HarperCollins), The Beer Companion (Simon & Schuster) and The Brewmaster's Recipe Manual.

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New Natural Home: Designs for Sustainable Living

Inspirational houses from around the world: how architects and home owners can achieve harmony between dwellings and nature.

Our houses can be seen as living, breathing entities, extensions of ourselves and our families. This carefully considered publication provides the design inspiration to build and live in domestic spaces in a balanced, natural, sustainable way.

With the demands of all contemporary dwellings in mind—whether they’re found in the city, suburbs, or country—Dominic Bradbury considers the design basics one must follow in order to coexist with the planet’s resources.

Five chapters present successful projects from different parts of the globe, all specially photographed by Richard Powers.
     • Design and Build: where and how to create a modern natural home
     • Let There Be Light: manipulating the elements to improve lifestyle and interaction with nature
     • The Material World: using natural products to establish healthier relationships with the environment
     • Indoor/Outdoor Living: ideas for encouraging symbiotic relationships with the landscape, whether in the city or the country
     • Sustainable Footprints: how to naturally reduce domestic energy use

The book includes case studies and plans, a directory of architects, and a listing of featured houses, materials, and useful products. 340 full-color and 46 black-and-white photographs

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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)

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.  

 

Price: $35.00

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Homes & Courtyards: 28 Beautifully Designed Homes for Outdoor Living

Filled with stunning color photos, floor plans and site layouts, this book takes readers on an amazing tour of 23 new homes and 5 to-be-built projects featuring marvelous courtyards, patios, decks and other outdoor spaces. Published by the creators of the national bestseller, Tuscan & Andalusian Reflections, this new book is a "must-have" for consumers, home planners, builders, architects, interior designers or anyone who enjoys superb indoor and outdoor living.

Price: $34.95

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Patios and Walkways 1-2-3: Design and Build Beautiful Outdoor Living Spaces (Expert Advice from the Home Depot)

• Design and installation techniques, tips, and shortcuts used by professionals

• Provides step-by-step instructions, timeframe for completing plus skills and materials lists

• "Wisdom of the Aisles" on every page guarantees success

• Details how to design, layout, maintain, and work with a variety of materials in building patios and walkways

• Features walkways using soft set paths, hard bed paths, brick and paver patterns, and boardwalks

Price: $24.95

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Earth-Sheltered Houses: How to Build an Affordable... (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)

An earth-sheltered, earth-roofed home has the least impact upon the land of all housing styles, leaving almost zero footprint on the planet.

Earth-Sheltered Houses is a practical guide for those who want to build their own underground home at moderate cost. It describes the benefits of sheltering a home with earth, including the added comfort and energy efficiency from the moderating influence of the earth on the home’s temperature (keeping it warm in the winter and cool in the summer), along with the benefits of low maintenance and the protection against fire, sound, earthquake, and storm afforded by the earth. Extra benefits from adding an earth or other living roof option include greater longevity of the roof substrate, fine aesthetics, and environmental harmony.

The book covers all of the various construction techniques involved, including details on planning, excavation, footings, floor, walls, framing, roofing, waterproofing, insulation, and drainage. Specific methods appropriate for the inexperienced owner/builder are a particular focus and include:

• Pouring one’s own footings and/or floor
• The use of dry-stacked (surface-bonded) concrete block walls
• Post-and-beam framing
• Plank-and-beam roofing
• Drainage methods and self-adhesive waterproofing membranes

The time-tested, easy-to-learn construction techniques described in Earth-Sheltered Houses will enable readers to embark upon their own building projects with confidence, backed up by a comprehensive resources section that lists all the latest products such as waterproofing membranes, types of rigid insulation, and drainage products that will protect the building against water damage and heat loss.

Rob Roy is a former contractor with 27 years of experience and 12 previous books to his credit, including Cordwood Building and Timber Framing for the Rest of Us. An expert on underground building, he founded the Earthwood Building School in 1981 with his wife, Jaki, and is frequently a speaker at events throughout North America.

Price: $27.95

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