|
|
|
Special Price for National Solar Tour Visitors: $30.00
|
| DETAILS |
Softcover, 468pp by Dan Chiras The Natural House is a tour of the construction, costs, and pros and cons of fourteen natural building methods. Straw Bale, Rammed Earth, Cob, Cordwood, Adobe, Earthbags, Papercrete, Earthships…whatever the method, the common goal is to create a house that is economical, energy efficient, nontoxic, soothing to the soul, kind to the environment, and pleasing to behold. This comprehensive sourcebook offers in-depth information that will guide your search for the perfect sustainable dream home. It is a must for home builders, contractors, and architects. Author Dan Chiras shows how you can gain energy independence and reduce your environmental impact through passive solar heating and cooling techniques, solar electricity, wind power, and micro-hydropower. He also explains safe, economical ways to obtain clean drinking water and treat wastewater, and discusses affordable green products. While he's an unabashed advocate of natural building techniques, Chiras takes care not to romanticize and to alert readers to avoidable pitfalls. His detailed, practical, and ecologically sound advice can save tens of thousands of dollars, whether you are buying, building, or renovating a natural home. Illustrations include drawings, photos, schematics Date Published - 2000 About the Author What Others Say "Simply put, this is the most comprehensive and most useful introduction to natural building systems and practices available. A book that anyone setting out to build a home of natural materials should read - cover to cover. The emphasis is for the owner-builder, but there is much here that Professional designers and builders will also find useful." "With more open space being filled up with houses made of foam and formaldehyde that are poorly designed, energy inefficient, and uncomfortable to occupy, the timing for The Natural House is perfect. Here is a thorough, commonsense, nonthreatening compendium of natural alternatives that all conventional home builders ought to incorporate into their program immediately' "This book is a much needed, unbiased encyclopedia of sustainability that will put wind in the sails of our fuure." |
