Combining the techniques of the author's previous two classic books, CORDWOOD MASONRY HOMES and EARTHWOOD, plus a decade of new information, new lessons to avoid pitfalls, and new ideas, this book offers a complete update on this dynamic housebuilding method.
In Building a Low Impact Roundhouse, Tony shares his many years of experience, skills, and techniques used to build this unique and affordable low-impact home. Always witty and inspiring, the author explains the process of visualizing and designing a house through to the practical side of lifting the living roof, infilling the walls, laying out rooms, and adding renewable, autonomous technology. Building a Low Impact Roundhouse has become a classic text sold all over the world. Tony's home and lifestyle have attracted much media interest, and he and his partner continue to inspire many individuals and communities to seek out ways of living more sustainably. Now in its third edition, with a fascinating ten-year update including a major new section on the couple's marvelous straw bale den, Tony also includes sections on the physical design, and he writes about the lifestyle required for living in a roundhouse. He offers advice on roofs, floors, walls, compost toilets, wood stoves, kitchens, windows, and planning permission. There are additional photographs of life in and around the dwelling and illustrations from the construction plans for one of the UK's most unique homes. This true and captivating story covers the realizing of a lifetime's dream as well as being a practical how to manual for anyone who loves the idea of low-impact living and wants to self-build an affordable, organic home.
Anyone who wants to learn basic living skills--and enjoy a healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient lifestyle--need look no further than this eminently useful guide that features hundreds of projects and old-fashioned fun. Full-color and b&w photographs throughout.
Planning, the market and private housebuilding" is a timely new book which analyzes key contemporary issues in the light of the latest research findings and trends in policy and practice. The relationship between land- use planning and the housebuilding industry in Britain has long been characterized by intense debate and conflicting priorities about land supply. The experience of the late 1980s and the early 1990s has made national policy-makers and economic analysts aware of the crucial importance of the housing market for the whole economy, and has once more put planning in the spotlight. At the same time, planning itself is undergoing significant changes, and has been given a new "mission" in terms of the environmental agenda, which may be in some tension with the needs of the housing economy. The artificial boundaries between housing and planning have also been broken down by recent developments linking planning and social housing and stressing the "enabling" role of housing authorities.; The authors are based in leading research and teaching centres for planning and housing, and they combine expertise in housing policy and finance, industrial economics and organization, and town & country planning. The book builds on several important local and national research studies undertaken for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, but draws on a wider range of other work, literature and practice to give a rounded view of the field.; The book grapples directly with some of the biggest issues: How sluggish is the housebuilding industry in responding to demand? How much does planning affect house prices? What would happen if we scrapped the Green Belt? Do planning policies get implemented? Do planning agreements for affordable housing make sense? What would happen if mortgage interest tax relief were abolished? The book is aimed at interested lay readers, those involved professionally in the housing, development, and planning fields, and at students of planning, construction, housing, geography, economics, social policy and related disciplines. While centred on the experience of the UK the authors bring to bear their knowledge of comparative experience and research in a range of other countries including North America and Europe.; Glen Bramley, a specialist on housing and public finance, is a Reader in the School for Advanced Urban Studies SAUS at the University of Bristol; he was Deputy Director of SAUS for 1990--92. Will Bartlett is a Research Fellow at SAUS , having lectured in economics the the universities of Southampton, Bristol and Bath. Christine Lambert is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Town and Country Planning at the University of the West of England, Bristol, and she spacializes on planning and local government issues.
"From the publishers of a popular series of building books comes Small Homes, which is highly relevant for these times. Getting smaller, rather than larger. Some 75 builders share their knowledge of building and design, with artistic, practical, and/or economical homes in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Spain, New Zealand and Lithuania. This is the seventh in a series of highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The series, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include Shelter, Shelter II (1978), Home Work (2004), Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008), Tiny Homes (2012), and Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Each of these books has over 1,000 photos, and each 2-page spread is carefully laid out with respect to balance of graphics and clarity of information. A running theme with them is that people have been inspired by one book to build their own home, and this will be included in a subsequent book. For example, many of the homes in Home Work were inspired by Shelter. And so on. The underlying theme with Shelter's books, which has continued for over 40 years, is that it's possible for you to create your own home with your own hands, using natural materials. Some of these homes are in the country, some in small towns, and some in large cities"--
Anyone who wants to learn basic living skills—the kind employed by our forefathers—and adapt them for a better life in the twenty-first century need look no further than this eminently useful, full-color guide. With hundreds of projects, step-by-step sequences, photographs, charts, and illustrations, The Back to Basics Handbook will help you dye your own wool with plant pigments, graft trees, raise chickens, craft a hutch table with hand tools, and make treats such as blueberry peach jam and cheddar cheese. The truly ambitious will find instructions on how to build a log cabin or an adobe brick homestead. More than just practical advice, this is also a book for dreamers— even if you live in a city apartment you will find your imagination sparked, and there’s no reason why you can’t, for example, make a loom and weave a rag rug. Complete with tips for old-fashioned fun (square dancing calls, homemade toys, and kayaking tips), this is the ultimate concise guide to voluntary simplicity.
Learn how to identify, locate, and effectively use alternative building materials, including cob, adobe, rammed earth, bamboo, cork, wool carpeting, and more. You will also learn about the structure, climate control, siting, foundations, and flooring options you gain when using these materials. Ultimately, you will come to understand that these materials are cheaper, easier to build with, stronger, more durable, and more fire resistant.