For beginners and owner-builders, green building is a sustainable construction method that has a low impact on the environment. Green buildings usually incorporate LEED standard construction requirements in order to become certified; however, a homeowner can be an "owner builder" and construct their own home without the need of hiring a General Contractor in many cases. The energy efficiency of a home, when designed well, can be as much as 90% efficient, cutting utility bills to an extreme. A tiny house or small "core house" (with all the living essentials--kitchen, bath, living/sleeping area) can be designed into the floorplan wall system so the owner-builder can add on extra bedrooms later on. Energy efficient homes that are truly sustainable incorporate superinsulation and thermal mass along with passive solar home design, and this book explains how to do that. This book offers a passive solar home companion e-book (v1) that can be downloaded free from the author's website.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(chapters, some sections, page numbers):
INTRODUCTION
2
Designing Our Homes for the Earth: Why Pay Attention to Climate Change
No Waste and Permaculture
Green Energy
Net Zero/Net Positive
The Purpose of This Book
Passive House / Passivehaus
Best Passive Solar Homes
GREEN BUILDING BASICS
35
What is Green Building?
Life Cycle Assessment
Cost
Site
Design
Environmental impact
Water Efficiency
Energy efficiency
Core-House
Construction
Maintenance
Operation
Renovations
Deconstruction
Habitat for Humanity Deconstruction Services
Deconstruction vs Demolition
How Green Home Deconstruction is Essential
GREEN BUILDING CODES
94
Why LEED?
LEED Certification
To Certify or Not to Certify?
Design for the Future
ECO-FRIENDLY MATERIALS
ALTERNATIVE CONSTRUCTION GREEN MATERIALS
152
PASSIVE SOLAR HOUSE DESIGN
190
Passive solar vs conventional home
Solar Design
Passive House
Passive House vs. Conventional Home
Storing Energy vs Reducing Loss
The 90% Efficient Passive Solar House
PASSIVE SOLAR STRAW BALE HOUSE DESIGN
208
The Beginning
Build Inexpensively, Not Cheap
Straw Bale Home Design
OWNER-BUILT STARTER HOME
224
Greening a Used Home
PLAN TO BUILD
238
Land
Practical and Legal
Site Assessment
Financing
Utilities / Services
Sewage
Electricity
Water
Cable / Internet
Phone
Gas
Professional Help
Learning Tips from Professionals
Floor Plan & Features
Floor Plan Considerations
Design Features
Second Book in this Set
Free Companion e-book
GREEN LIVING TIPS
262