Essential Sustainable Home Design: Sustainable Building Essentials

Design your own sustainable home

MANY PEOPLE DREAM of building a beautiful, environmentally friendly home. But until now there has been no systematic guide to help potential builders work through the complete process of imagining, planning, designing, and building their ideal, sustainable home.

Essential Sustainable Home Design walks potential homebuilders through the process starting with key concepts, principles, and a project vision that will guide the house to completion. Coverage includes:

• How to clarify your ideas and create a practical pathway to achieving your dream
• A criteria matrix to guide design, material, and systems decisions
• Creating a strong, integrated design team and working with professionals and code officials to keep the project on track from start to finish.
• Key building science concepts that make for a high-performance, durable building
• Primer on building logistics, material sourcing, and protocols to ensure that the initial vision for the project comes to fruition.
• One-page summaries and ratings of popular sustainable building materials and system options.

Ideal for owner-builders and sustainable building contractors working with clients aiming to design and build a sustainable home.

Chris Magwood has designed and built some of the most innovative, sustainable buildings in North America, including the first off-grid, straw bale home in Ontario. He is co-founder and director the Endeavour Centre for Innovative Building and Living and co-editor of the Sustainable Building Essentials series. Chris is the author of Essential Prefab Straw Bale Construction , Essential Hempcrete Construction , Straw Bale Details , More Straw Bale Building , and Making Better Buildings .

"It's all here. Everything you need to know about designing a sustainable home, for you, your family and the planet. Easy to read and understand while tackling a myriad of complex subjects."
- Martin Hammer, architect, co-author of the Straw Bale, Light Straw-Clay and Tiny Houses appendices in the International Residential Code

"Finally! An up-to-date overview of the most important approaches and questions to address when making a more sustainable home."
- Ben Falk, MALD, author, The Resilient Farm and Homestead and Whole Systems Design, LLC

"An intelligent synthesis of all things "green," presented in an easy-to-understand format to help future home owners make the best choices for every stage in creating their new home."
- Paula Baker-Laporte FAIA co-author, Prescriptions for a Healthy House and The EcoNest Home

"Both comprehensive and concise."
- David Eisenberg, Director, Development Center for Appropriate Technology

"I will be referring prospective clients and colleagues alike to Essential Sustainable Home Design ."
- Tim Krahn, LEED AP, P. Eng.

New Society's Sustainable Building Essentials Series aims to provide the highest quality information on sustainable building methods and materials. Editors Chris Magwood and Jen Feigin have scoured the world of sustainable building to bring you the techniques and systems that deliver measureable benefits in terms of greater energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact. Written by the world's leading sustainable builders, designers, and engineers, these succinct, user-friendly handbooks are indispensable tools for any project.