Books, Straw Bale House and Home Design, Pattern Language, Green Building, Garden

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Books On Design, Straw Bale Houses, and Buildings

Syncronos Design considers the following books and videos to be the best in their class.
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A Pattern Language

If you buy only one book on architecture and design, this is the one to get. This book will change the way you look at house design. It will enable any person to design a house by using a series of "patterns" to solve design problems. These sequentially numbered patterns simply state the concept, such as where to place windows, and then explain the resolution in a few paragraphs. A Pattern Language is elegantly simple in its language and approach, yet endlessly flexible. The book goes beyond just house design and includes the layout of gardens, neighborhoods, and communities. This is a "must have" for anyone interested in the design of structures. The home featured on this web site was aesthetically derived from the patterns in this book.

The Straw Bale House

If you know nothing about straw bale construction, this is the place to start. The book is clearly written, informative, and shows a broad overview of this innovative building material. Examples are shown of load bearing and non-load bearing wall systems, plastering techniques and materials, foundation systems, and the application of various building techniques on several structures. Although the book is not a step-by-step building guide, it will give you a knowledge base of how to get started.

Serious Straw Bale

Most other books on straw bale tend to focus on construction in the desert Southwest. This book balances out the library with techniques and considerations to keep in mind when building in colder and wetter climates. It is a solid, well-researched and illustrated manual geared towards both the professional builder and the do-it-yourselfer.

Building With Awareness: The Construction of a Hybrid Home
This beautifully photographed how-to DVD will show you how to build straw bale walls for insulation, adobe walls for interior thermal mass (which greatly increases the efficiency of a straw bale home), earth plasters for a beautiful finish, 100% electrical generation by sunlight, and passive solar heating and cooling. This video could save you thousands of dollars in design and construction costs. Beautiful aesthetics and energy-efficiency can both come from the same materials. It is how the structure is designed as a whole that makes the difference. Follow the design and construction of one house - from start to finish - and see how aesthetics, comfort, and energy efficiency can all come from the same materials and design parameters. This video is jam-packed with green design and construction techniques from professionals working in the cutting edge of home building and design. Although the video emphasizes the idea of building small, the concepts can be scaled to any size structure. Whether you are a novice builder or a professional, you will learn about rubble-trench foundations, post-and-beam framing for straw bale walls, step-by-step straw bale building techniques, adobe wall construction, roof framing, roof insulation, acid-stained concrete floors, rainwater cisterns, graywater plumbing, photovoltaic electrical systems, wiring for straw bale and adobe, radiant floor heat, window placement & installation, green materials, earth plaster mixes and techniques, and much more. Includes a full-color, 8 page quick-reference booklet with a floor plan of the home, plus a 16 minute narrated slide show of construction details. A second audio track, that doubles the design and construction information to over 5 hours, covers the pros and cons of various materials, construction costs, and discusses the experience of building your own home.

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The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling

One of the best books written on passive solar heating and cooling. The informaiton is easy to understand and is well presented. Passive heating and cooling should be incorporated into all house designs, regardless of the materials that are used for construction. You can potentially greatly reduce your heating and cooling bills as well as make a home that is comfortable to live in. Both owner-builders and architects will find this book an essential resource.

Real Goods Solar Living Source Book—
12th edititon
A must-have for anyone thinking of building a green home. This fully updated classic of sustainable living technology tells how and gives you access to the world's most extensive selection of hardware to make it all happen. The Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook-12th Edition is the ultimate resource on renewable energy, sustainable living, alternative construction, green building, homesteading, off-the-grid living and alternative transportation, written by experts with decades of personal experience and a passion for sharing their knowledge. In print and regularly updated since 1982, the Sourcebook has sold over 600,000 copies in 44 countries. This 12th edition includes brand-new sections on solar utility intertie, alternative sources of fuel (including biodiesel and hydrogen fuel cells) and hybrid vehicles, and completely rewritten sections on land and shelter, emergency preparedness and energy conservation, and much more. Whether you're a layperson or a professional, novice or longtime aficionado, the Sourcebook puts the latest research and newest products at your fingertips-all the information you need to make sustainable living a reality.

The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes
This is an inspirational book showing many completed straw bale homes with different wall finishes, materials, and ambience. Nicely photographed and a good visual companion to The Straw Bale House book.

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