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SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE As "consumers" we are frequently confronted with life style decisions that can impact our environment. There are a few choices in this life that can make a big difference in what the quality of life will be for those who follow us. Going with the flow of our culture is hard to avoid, and unfortunately the flow is not in the right direction for evolving a sustainable future. One of the most momentous choices that any of us will make is the kind of house we live in. I have come up with a list of thirteen principles of sustainable architecture (listed as links on the left) that can guide you in your housing choices.
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RESOURCES ARTICLES: EXPERT
ADVICE |
A Sampler of Alternative Homes: Approaching Sustainable Architecture . This two-hour DVD, produced by Kelly Hart, provides an overview of sustainable building concepts. You can enjoy a look at a fascinating variety of homes and the creative people who built them! Discover how passive solar design and environmentally low-impact materials can be used to create comfortable and economical homes. See the use of both traditional materials, such as adobe, and innovative materials, such as papercrete and earthbags. This program offers a wealth of information about construction details and other considerations. It covers adobe block construction, piled adobe (similar to cob), rammed earth, both load-bearing and post and beam strawbale, earthships, earth-sheltering, cordwood, thin-shelled concrete domes, papercrete, earthbags, hybrid structures, and recycling various containers for housing. To watch a streaming video introduction to this program, click here.
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Building the Future Today by John Clem, 2000. In this book you will find information regarding: building a healthier home, safer home; placement of the home upon the building site; alternative building materials and construction methods; effective insulation methods; the environmental aspects of building materials; the basics of passive solar heating, and much more.
Green Building: Project Planning & Cost Estimating by RS Means, 2002. Green Building involves energy- and resource-saving strategies, such as low-E windows, reflective roofing, solar technologies and efficient HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems. Green building also means using healthy, recycled and renewable materials like certified lumber, low-VOC finishes and natural fibers – along with practices such as xeriscaping and daylighting. This book gives you the whole picture, with the information you need to:*Identify, compare, and specify green materials and systems. *Learn about LEED, Energy Star and other recognized rating systems. *Take advantage of financial incentives and funding resources. *Determine the cost of green products, and calculate energy savings and payback periods. The book also features a Green Building Cost Data section, with over 120 pages of cost data on sustainable materials and systems, which includes many new products and materials, their primary green attributes, and installed cost. Plus 8 Case Studies that demonstrate the challenges, costs, and rewards of notable green building projects.
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The New Ecological Home: A Complete Guide to Green Building Options, by Dan Chiras, 2004. As homeowners become more environmentally savvy and demand ecological choices, a new generation of architects and builders is emerging, intent on creating warm and inviting homes that cause only a fraction of the environmental impact of conventional building methods. The New Ecological Home provides an overview of green building techniques, materials, products and technologies that are either currently available or promise to be in the near future. There are chapters on green building materials, earth-sheltered architecture, passive solar heating and cooling, sustainable approaches to water and waste, energy efficiency, and environmental landscaping. Chiras sets the record straight on the vast potential for passive heating and cooling and provides a resource guide, recommendations, and a green-building checklist. He provides a wealth of up-to-date, practical information for homebuyers, owner-builders, and anyone interested in building for a sustainable future. Dan Chiras is a leading authority on green building and renewable energy options, and is the author of The Solar House and The Natural House, which Earthship inventor Michael Reynolds has called "a much needed, unbiased encyclopedia of sustainability that will put wind in the sails of our future." |
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Sustainable Homes : 26 Designs that Respect the Earth by James Grayson Trulove, 2004. Each of these "eco" houses is unique. Some tread lightly on the site by nestling into the land. Others are designed to be extremely well suited to the climactic zones in which they are built. Many use materials that do no harm to the environment—materials that are recycled, salvaged, or harvested. The houses featured in Sustainable Homes are designed by today's top architects such as Obie Bowman, Fernau and Hartman, Hanrahan and Meyers, and Lake/Flato. They reveal how much the parameters of ecological design have expanded in just a few short years. Over two dozen individual houses are featured -- from locations as diverse as a Canadian cove to the Arizona desert, from Kansas plains to the Norwegian coast, from California bluffs to South Carolina wetlands -- each described through descriptions, photographs, plans, drawings, and schematics. |
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Housing
Ourselves: Creating Affordable, Sustainable Shelter ,
by Richard Burnham, 1998. Through centuries of human history, people
in every part of the world have practiced the art of building their
own homes--homes that turned out to be remarkably practical, sustainable,
and affordable. Today, we have homes built by "professionals." And we
also have homes built of synthetic materials, a coast-to-coast homogenization
of style, wastefulness of natural resources, and ever skyrocketing prices--even
for the most modest housing. Illuminating case studies show how housing
can be constructed for one-third the cost of custom-built housing. The
author shows how to: choose materials that are locally available, cost-effective,
and sustainable; design housing that's suitable to an area's climate,
topography, and other shelter requirements; launch the project on a
shoestring and add on incrementally as finances permit; create homes
that bring individuality and variety back to today's homogenized landscape.
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Natural Timber Frame Homes by Wayne Bingham, Jerod Pfeffer, 2007. Natural Timber Frame Homes lays the philosophical groundwork for how locally available materials result in more durable and beautiful homes. It asks us to consider the source of our wood, stone, clay, and straw and suggests that this awareness contributes to our perception of character in a finished house. Building naturally also gives us the feedback necessary to be conscientious environmental and economic stewards and allows us to play a meaningful role in the creation of our dwelling. This book puts the theory of natural building into practice by providing the tools to evaluate your area for potential building materials. Photographs and drawings pull the theory together into workable timber frame construction details with floor plans that are adaptable to your specific needs, including your climate and landscape. Beauty and character of traditional timber frame homes are a result of natural materials being crafted by the hands of the builder. By injecting ourselves into the process of home construction, we have the potential to live more connected to the natural world and influence the future of the Earth for the better. |
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Living Homes: Sustainable Architecture and Design by Nora Burba Trulsson, Suzi Moore McGregor, 2001. For those who want a beautiful home that also reflects an environmentally conscious lifestyle, the 22 residences featured in Living Homes prove that it's possible to have the best of both worlds. In this lushly photo-graphed book, the authors take readers on a visual tour of stunning earthen homes. They explore a rammed earth neighborhood, a two-story Victorian-style straw bale house, and a recycled concrete coastal retreat, among other alternative living spaces. Meet the architects and owners, read their stories, learn what inspired them, and explore their beautiful gardens and décor. Terrence Moore's striking photographs capture the exquisite interiors and exteriors and showcase the picturesque landscapes that create such magnificent backdrops. With profiles of adobe, rammed earth, straw bale, and reinvented materials in both their historical and contemporary applications, Living Homes is a visual inspiration and vital guide to sustainable architecture and alternative materials. |
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Ecohouse, Second Edition by Sue Roaf, 2003. Ecohouse 2 tells you how to design low energy, environmentally friendly buildings. It provides the foundations for building design in a warming world, and shows how to take the first step towards the zero-carbon emission buildings of tomorrow. Sue Roaf is famed for her approach to design and her awareness of energy efficiency. Here she reveals the concepts, structures and techniques that lie behind the realization of her ideals. By using her own house as a case-study Roaf guides the reader through the ideas for energy efficient design or 'eco design'. This second edition, a follow up to the best selling original, introduces new sections including earth sheltering and reed beds. It also explores 24 case-studies of ecohouses from around the world. It is an ideal comprehensive reference for architects, designers and their clients, as well as self builders, who wish to help make sustainable design a reality. |
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Mainstreaming Sustainable Architecture: Casa de Paja by Ed Paschich, Jan Zimmerman, 2001. “Sustainable Architecture” is a term that groups together a number of approaches to architecture that choose materials and techniques that can be maintained for the long-term without exhausting non-renewable resources. Mainstreaming Sustainable Architecture illustrates a systems approach to design and construction in which the various components—such as passive solar techniques, earth air conditioning, vapor-permeable ceilings, and cellulose insulation—operate synergistically to achieve environmental goals. This case study of Casa de Paja (House of Straw) demonstrates that many elements of sustainable architecture can be incorporated without sacrificing sophisticated design and without added expense. While no technical background is needed to understand the principles behind sustainable design, architects and engineers will find enough detail in the drawings and appendices to adapt these techniques to their own construction. Illustrates a systems approach to design and construction in which the various components operate synergistically to achieve environmental goals.
Green Architecture by James Wines, 2000. This book gives an excellent historical and philosophical account of the shifts of human settlements and explains the necessity of a change in attitude towards our built environment and its intrinsic relationship with its natural context. Many examples and a variety of projects, attitudes, perspectives, and approaches to the environmental problems back Mr. Wines view that there is no alternative, that a green architecture must become a basic constant and not remain a mere superficial trend. We already possess the knowledge and the technology to rebuild paradise on earth. We now need a growing, global conciousness and the wisdom necessary to move forward. James Wines puts up the various - and often irreconcilable - concepts of environmentally-friendly architecture for discussion, making a case for an architecture that not only focuses on technological solutions, but also tries to reconcile man and nature in its formal idiom. |
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Good
Green Homes: Creating Better Homes for a Healthier Planet
by Jennifer Roberts, 2003. Creating a good green home isn't just
about conservation, about using less or saving more-although that's
certainly part of it. It's about creating better homes that are
easier on the environment, less expensive over the long term, and
more delightful to come home to. That's the message Jennifer Roberts
wants to share in Good Green Homes, the ultimate new guide for people
who want to live in comfortable, healthy, environmentally conscious
homes. |
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Green
by Design: Creating a Home for Sustainable Living
by Angela Dean. There is no “one-size-fits-all” plan for so-called
“green” homes; rather, there are universal principles of design
that can be applied to individual tastes and needs. Architect Angela
Dean offers a variety of ways to incorporate green building into your
home, including using healthy building materials such as straw bales
and natural flooring, taking advantage of local materials and resources,
reusing gray water for landscaping, and incorporating passive solar
design. Her goal is to teach people how to think about building sustainable
homes.
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The Ecological Design Handbook by Fred Stitt (Editor), 1999. This one-of-a-kind collection of "green" writings--from seminal figures such as Paolo Soleri and Buckminster Fuller, to unsung pioneers of alternative materials and experimental methods, to experts around the world--makes possible for the first time a grand overview of ecological design in architecure and planning. It's also an unparalleled source of much-needed inspiration, job-simplyfying details, and how-to's for the real-world structures and plans that are an everyday part of your work. Covers everything from alternative energy source hardware to design...aesthetics...permaculture...energy-saving retrofitting...interior air quality...hybrid construction materials...cohousing... bioremediation... and infrastructure. |
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Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate by Rocky Mountain Institute, Alex Wilson, Jenifer L. Uncapher, Lisa McManigal, L. Hunter Lovins, Maureen Cureton, William D. Browning, 1998. "Green building"--the trend toward more environmentally responsible construction--has become a popular movement among architects, but it is less well understood by the developers and owners who control funding. This book is the first to demonstrate the advantages of green development, using case studies of developers and owners who built environmentally responsible projects that have delivered superior financial rewards. If you're a developer, architect, planner, contractor, lender, or city official, this book speaks your language. Every stage of the development process is examined in detail: market research, site planning, design, approvals, financing, construction, marketing, and occupancy. Also included are lists of project statistics and contacts, books and other information sources, and development strategies. Based on 80 case studies drawn from Rocky Mountain Institute's extensive worldwide research and consulting work, Green Development distills proven procedures and practical lessons that work in the real world. |
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Green Architecture: An International Comparison by Brian Edwards, 2001. Green is the major architectural movement of our time. Throughout the world architects are producing sustainable buildings, united solely by their desire to preserve the environment and precious natural resources. Rather than a universal style, conforming to a common language, green architecture is open to local and individual interpretation. Moulded by a whole range of forces - climatic, cultural, professional and social, it is ultimately an architecture of great richness and complexity. This title cuts across cultures and building typologies, and includes architecture from diverse geographical regions. There are special features on South Africa, Austalia, Singapore, Hong Kong, The Netherlands and North America, as well as essential introductory essays. Work is brought together, with little-known buildings being published alongside those of world-famous architects. The volume is interspersed by 'Green Questionnaires', which, offer a unique insight into the view of premier international architects on this subject.
Contemporary Design in Detail: Sustainable Environments by Yenna Chen, Alicia Kennedy, 2007. A visual look at the architectural details of sustainable residential spaces The Contemporary Design Details series takes a highly visual look at architectural design details that are more often dealt with in a technical textbook format. The books take readers on a tour of the best details designed by great architects around the world. The series provides a powerful presentation of the most challenging and evolving architectural and design categories. Sustainable Environments focuses on the type of architectural details in distinctive, sustainable residential spaces. It includes sections on components such as cooling or shading devices, building techniques that create minimal impact on the land, active systems, and the use of new sustainable materials as well as those that are salvaged or recyclable. The book presents recent work by architects from around the globe in color photographs and architectural drawings, and is structured according to categories of architectural detail. |
The Green House :
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Sustainable Architecture White Papers
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Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism: Design, Construction, Examples
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Tropical Sustainable Architecture: Social and Environmental Dimensions
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Understanding Sustainable Architecture
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Sustainable Architecture: Principles, Paradigms, and Case Studies
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Sustainable Architectures
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Sustainable
Architecture: Low Tech Houses
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Construction
Ecology: Nature as a Basis for Green Buildings
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Sustainable
Architecture:
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European
Directory of Sustainable and Energy Efficient Building 1999: Compnents,
Services, Materials
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Energy
Efficient Buildings: Architecture, Engineering, and Environment
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Green
Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification
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Sustainability
at the Cutting Edge: Emerging Technologies for Low Energy Buildings
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The
Green Imperative: Natural Design for the Real World
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Green from the Ground Up: Sustainable, Healthy, and Energy-Efficient Home Construction
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The Green Building Revolution
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Your Green Home: A Guide to Planning a Healthy, Environmentally Friendly New Home
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Creating a Sustainable Home: A Practical Guide to Building, Remodeling, or Retrofitting Your Home for Healthy Living
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Flexible: Architecture that Responds to Change
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Studio at Large: Architecture in Service of Global Communities
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Sustainable Ecosystems : and the Built Environment
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Canada Innovates:
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Green Homes: New Ideas for Sustainable Living
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Soleri: Architecture as Human Ecology
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Smart and Sustainable Built Environments
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Ecological Architecture:
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New Sustainable Homes: Designs for Healthy Living
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Sustainable Living:
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Site Analysis: A Contextual Approach to Sustainable Land Planning and Site Design
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Sustainable Urban Housing in China: Principles and Case Studies for Low-Energy Design
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Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: Theories, Discourses, Practices
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Sustainable Housing:
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Energy-Efficient Architecture: Basics for Planning and Construction
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Sustainable Design: Ecology, Architecture, and Planning
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Whole
House Book
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Green
Building Guidelines: Meeting the Demand for Low-Energy, Resource-Efficient
Homes
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Planet
Earth Home: The Ultimate Self-Sufficient Home for any Location in the
World
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Homes Across America profiles resource efficient and high performance home building in the U.S. You can search for homes around the country and find out about the "green" technologies and techniques used to build them. Examples include everything from "off the grid" homes to high performance production models to multi-family apartments. My Earthbag/Papercrete home is listed under Colorado. You can submit your own resource efficient home for their consideration. naturalhomes.org lists workshops conducted around the world relating to all aspects of natural building. greenhouse.gov.au lots of case studies of houses in Australia that demonstrate various aspects
of sustainable architecture. smart-homeowner.com features innovative solutions for creating efficient, healthy, eco-friendly homes and has many articles and resources available at the on-line version of their magazine. Sustainable Building Sourcebook very well organized information and links related to various aspects of sustainable architecture. squidoo.com/greenblogs a directory of blogs covering such topics as building, food production, energy, business, life styles, peak oil, etc. grisb.org The
Geiger Research Institue of Sustainable Building features workshops, a
strawbale certification program, articles and publications on many aspects
of sustainable building, house plans (including a free emergency shelter
plan), and links to much more information. motherearthnews.com
Mother Earth News has provided solid information on many topics
related to sustainable living for several decades, and now many of these
articles are available on-line. arch.hku.hk thorough analysis of sustainability, with lots of links squ1.com this ecologically oriented architectural software company has assembled
a huge array of related information. mcdonough.com William McDonough's site features articles by and about him and his radical ideas for transforming design into an art of creating no waste. nahbrc.org The NAHB Research Center facilitates liaisons between builders and manufacturers, design professionals and housing research, and government and industry – the Research Center is dedicated to advancing housing technology and enhancing housing affordability for the benefit of all Americans. goodtobegreen.com is primarily a directory of green resources, both products and services. lowimpactliving.com A directory of green products and services available in the U. S. eeba.org Energy & Environmental Building Association bagelhole.org has a lot of information about various aspects of sustainable architecture. newbuilder.co.uk publishes Building for a Future magazine, with many issues available on-line. greenerbuildings.com provides resources and case studies related to sustainable design, materials land and water use. greenbuildingpages.com has an expanding database related to sustainable design, products and resources. greenmatrix.net a web-based tool for to implementing green design throughout the planning and design process. rebuildingcommunity.org devoted to sustainable disaster relief around the world. cowartgroup.com this page from an architectural firm includes a Checklist for Environmentally Sustainable Design and Construction From the AIA Environmental Committee. inika.com this Indian firm combines many aspects of sustainable architecture in their designs. environmentalarchitecture this site was created by a school girl as a class project and features many things that we all can learn from. openarchitecturenetwork.org The purpose of this network is to allow designers and architects to work together in a whole new way, through the power of the internet to bring diverse folks together to forge new design solutions for housing mankind. cectoxic.org This PDF guide to building green was assembled by the Citizen's Environmental Coalition in New York state. sustainablebuild.co.uk This U.K. website features a vast collection of articles about most aspects of sustainable building. intlistings.com This article entitled "Greenify Your Home: 100 Tips and Resources to Make Your House Environmentally Friendly" offers substantial tips for moving forward with making your home more sustainable. sustainabilitystore.com is a directory of socially and environmentally responsible products and services. greenbuildingelements.com is a blog-style magazine featuring articles by various professionals related to all aspects of sustainable design. 100milediet.org/100-mile-housing This article describes the 100-mile-housing concept with one example of locally-sourced materials. greengeezer.com is a blog with this motto: "Green homes for baby boomers: Because there's still time to do it right." |
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Solar
Power: The Evolution of Sustainable Architecture
