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Jacob Deva Racusin

Down and dirty – a complete step-by-step guide to making, installing and living with beautiful, all-natural earthen floors 

Poor heat and moisture management are the enemies of durable, comfortable, and efficient housing, and good building design and construction starts with a solid understanding of good building science.

 Essential Building Science provides a highly visual and accessible introduction to the fundamentals of building science for residential construction.

Part one covers the rationale behind high-performance design and the fundamentals of building physics, including thermal dynamics, moisture transfer, and hygro-thermal dynamics such as vapor drive and condensation.

Part two teaches the vital critical thinking skills needed to consider buildings as whole systems and to develop thermal and moisture control strategies regardless of the specifics of the design. Case studies and examples from across North American climatic zones illuminate real-life problems and offer builders, designers, and DIYers the insights and tools required for creating better new buildings and dramatically improving old ones.

Good science plus critical thinking equals high performance buildings.

New Society Publishers

Sustainable Building Essentials

Essential Building Science: Understanding Energy and Moisture in High Performance House Design

Chris Magwood

Design your own sustainable home 

Many people dream of building a beautiful, environmentally friendly home. But until now there has been no systematic guide to help potential builders work through the complete process of imagining, planning, designing, and building their ideal, sustainable home.

 Essential Sustainable Home Design walks potential homebuilders through the process starting with key concepts, principles, and a project vision that will guide the house to completion.

Coverage includes:

 • How to clarify your ideas and create a practical pathway to achieving your dream
 • A criteria matrix to guide design, material, and systems decisions
 • Creating a strong, integrated design team and working with professionals and code officials to keep the project on track from start to finish.
 • Key building science concepts that make for a high-performance, durable building
 • Primer on building logistics, material sourcing, and protocols to ensure that the initial vision for the project comes to fruition.
 • One-page summaries and ratings of popular sustainable building materials and system options.

Ideal for owner-builders and sustainable building contractors working with clients aiming to design and build a sustainable home.

 Chris Magwood has designed and built some of the most innovative, sustainable buildings in North America, including the first off-grid, straw bale home in Ontario. He is co-founder and director the Endeavour Centre for Innovative Building and Living and co-editor of the Sustainable Building Essentials series. Chris is the author of Essential Prefab Straw Bale Construction, Essential Hempcrete Construction, Straw Bale Details, More Straw Bale Building , and Making Better Buildings .

Essential Sustainable Home Design: A Complete Guide to Goals, Options, and the Planning Process

Kelly Hart

“A must-have book for anyone interested in natural and sustainable building. It expands the possibilities with practical and essential information.” —Will Beemer, Director of the Heartwood School for the Homebuilding Crafts and author of Learn to Timber Frame.

 Build economical and resilient earthbag structures using simple tools and techniques.

 Earthbag construction—building with polypropylene bags usually filled with earthen materials—is a versatile, easy-to-master, low-impact, and highly durable form of building, suitable for structures from houses to root cellars.

 Containing over seventy-five photos and illustrations, Essential Earthbag Construction is a practical guide to this affordable method of building. Going well beyond the scope of other sources, this indispensable manual is packed with all the information you need to determine if it’s the right choice for your project, and to start building. Distilling decades of experience, research, and best practices, it covers: • Material specifications, performance, and when and where to use it 
 • Pros and cons of different fills from gravel, to earth and clay, to insulative perlite, rice hulls, and volcanic stone 
 • Illustrated, step-by-step guidance for efficient bag filling and installation 
 • Details for various designs, including domes and arches 
 • Foundation options and seismic and stability considerations 
 • Finishing and maintenance techniques 
 • Tools and materials 
 • Additional resources. 

Essential Earthbag Construction presents the practical guidance and best practices for both the DIYer and professional to design and build high-quality earthbag structures.

 “A comprehensive, practical and inspirational guide that is both detailed and easy to follow.” —Jenny Pickerill, Professor of Environmental Geography, University of Sheffield, UK and author of Eco-Homes: People, Place and Politics

 “Everything you need to know for success.” —Michael G. Smith, co-editor, The Art of Natural Building and co-author, The Hand-Sculpted House

Essential Earthbag Construction: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Tim Krahn

“All of the essential knowledge for completing a successful rammed earth project. Written by a geo-technical engineer with experience ramming earth.” —Kelly Hart, author, Essential Earthbag Construction

 Everything you need to know to build with rammed earth in warm and cold climates.

 Rammed earth—sand, gravel, and clay or lime/cement binder packed into forms—is a low-energy, high-performance building method, yielding beautiful, sustainable results. It’s thermally stable and can be insulated, can actively modulate humidity, provides a healthy indoor environment, and allows site materials to be used for major structural and building envelope elements.

Essential Rammed Earth Construction covers design, building science, tools, and step-by-step building methods for any climate, with a special emphasis on building in cold climates of the northern US, Canada, and northern Europe. Coverage includes: • Overview of earthen building 
 • Appropriate use of rammed earth walls 
 • Stabilized versus raw rammed earth 
 • Design considerations, including structural, insulation, and building envelope details 
 • Special considerations for cold and freeze-thaw climates 
 • Construction drawings, with step-by-step building instructions 
 • Tools and labor covering industrial methods, low-tech techniques, formwork options, mix design, budgets, and schedules 
 • Codes, inspections, and permits. 

 This guide is an essential resource for experienced builders, DIY home owners, designers, engineers, and architects.

 “A much-needed and science-based update to a North American audience of designers, engineers and builders.” —Bruce King. P.E., author, The New Carbon Architecture

 “ A great book for anyone who wants to deepen their technical knowledge of rammed earth walls systems. It’s very helpful to have a book on rammed earth that is more focused on engineered rammed earth walls for cold climates.” —Clifton Schooley, Clifton Schooley & Associates, Rammed Earth Designers and Builders