Sustainable home building & environmental design resources

Passive solar architects generally base their designs on conventional stick-framed construction supplemented with a shotgun effect of expensive, repair-prone, high-tech mechanisms and electronics. "Truly sustainable" structures are best designed from the ground up to be low-tech, functioning passively without any mechanical systems. In our experience, high thermal mass building techniques make the transition to fully sustainable operation much more attainable.

Some sustainable housing authors that think outside the box...

• Malcolm Wells The Earth Sheltered House sketchbook is rich in drawings & inspiration 
• Robert L. Roy Cordwood Masonry features some curved wall SBC construction details
• Michael Reynolds Earthship Global details their rammed earth do-it-yourself buildings 
• Daniel D. Chiras The Natural House & The Solar House are both excellent textbooks
  
• Bruce Beerup's Passive Solar Design Guide primarily focuses on our HTM structures

Sustainable living resource pages and staff favorite websites...