Overview

Learn how to design a passive solar house on the cheap. For owner-builders, this book covers how to utilize the frugal buy-and-barter method to find used and free building materials to build your own green building or alternative construction home. Included are straw bale house examples that the author and another solar expert have built with up to 90% energy efficiency, and how to obtain that level of efficiency in your own home through passive solar design. Save big on utility bills the rest of your life in your home by greatly reducing the need for heating and cooling, simply through some simple design changes. TABLE OF CONTENTS (chapter, some sections listed, page numbers): INTRODUCTION 17; PASSIVE SOLAR BASICS 28; PAYING ATTENTION TO NATURE 35; THINK ABOUT DESIGN 46; CALCULATING THE SUN 69; Magnetic North and True North; Solar Noon; How to Find Solar South; The Stick Method; Shadow at Solar Noon Method; Compass Deviation / Declination Method; Understanding the Sun; Solar and Earth Cycles; DIRECT GAIN & INDIRECT GAIN 82; Isolated Gain; Improving Efficiency; Ventilation and Cooling; Other Passive Solar Designs; THERMAL MASS & INSULATION 92; ENERGY EFFICIENCY 111; WINDOW GLAZING 120; ROOF OVERHANG 130; SITE PLAN & FLOOR PLAN DESIGN 140; Site Design Before Floor Plans; Lot Quality; Solar Access; Site Analysis; Assess the Site for Solar Gain; Site Plan - Write it Down; Stake out the Building Location; Considerations for Floor Plan Layout; Passive Solar Floor Plan Design Features; Keep Plumbing Close Together; Core House Floor Plans; LETTING NATURE WORK FOR YOU 156; FRUGAL BUDGET HOMES 171; Start with a ""Core House""; Plan Big but Start Small; The Buy and Barter Method; Used Building Materials; Recycled Building Materials; Free Building Materials; Bartering; Bartering Service; Time Banking; Miscellaneous Bartering & Buying; Steps for Cost Effective Home Design; Build a Shed First; Steps for Good Planning; How to Build a Roof out of Pallets; GREEN BUILDING PRIMER 193; What is Green Building?; Cost; Site; Design; Construction; Maintenance; Operation; Renovations; Deconstruction; Habitat for Humanity Deconstruction Services; ALTERNATIVE CONSTRUCTION AND GREEN BUILDING MATERIALS 208; STRAW BALE HOUSE - THE BEGINNING 220; STRAW BALE HOUSE - FOUNDATION 225; STRAW BALE HOUSE - WALLS 234; STRAW BALE HOUSE - ROOF 244; WALLS, WIRING, & FOUNDATIONS 255; CHECKLIST: FROM LAND TO BUILDING 266

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