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.

This book is a celebration of good new design for old buildings and the SPAB philosophy that good new architecture can sit happily alongside old and is preferable to pastiche. Endorsing the value of architects who are engaged to work in the historic environment, this book explores design, materials and technical considerations in creating the best low energy, ecological and sustainable retrofits. It has never been more important to understand how old buildings can be adapted to make them useful and sustainable in the future. Showcasing the best examples of imaginative design and best practice, this book illustrates how old buildings can be made sustainable through the best new design and puts these design exemplars into a historical and philosophical context. With illustrative case studies and interviews throughout, including formal buildings, churches, domestic buildings, commercial, industrial and agricultural from all periods in the UK, New Design for Old Buildings provides essential guidance on good, imaginative new design for old buildings.

Soak up carbon into beautiful, healthy buildings that heal the climate "Green buildings" that slash energy use and carbon emissions are all the rage, but they aren't enough. The hidden culprit is embodied carbon — the carbon emitted when materials are mined, manufactured, and transported — comprising some 10% of global emissions. With the built environment doubling by 2030, buildings are a carbon juggernaut threatening to overwhelm the climate. It doesn't have to be this way. Like never before in history, buildings can become part of the climate solution. With biomimicry and innovation, we can pull huge amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere and lock it up as walls, roofs, foundations, and insulation. We can literally make buildings out of the sky with a massive positive impact. The New Carbon Architecture is a paradigm-shifting tour of the innovations in architecture and construction that are making this happen. Office towers built from advanced wood products; affordable, low-carbon concrete alternatives; plastic cleaned from the oceans and turned into building blocks. We can even grow insulation from mycelium. A tour de force by the leaders in the field, The New Carbon Architecture will fire the imagination of architects, engineers, builders, policy makers, and everyone else captivated by the possibility of architecture to heal the climate and produce safer, healthier, and more beautiful buildings.

This book explores the latest advances in the field of building management. Several chapters use new technologies such as the BIM methodology for collecting life cycle information and managing the maintenance of existing buildings, sharing valid historical and architectural heritage data, energy analysis of building envelopes, and planning new buildings or sustainable building practices. In addition, other tools are presented that focus on improving access to BIM information, open-source governance, mobile applications to accelerate information transfer, the use of blockchain, lean design methods, and open-source software to solve critical path problems. Some contributions feature the assessment of occupational risks in construction, as it is necessary to plan preventive measures based on risk assessments integrated throughout the construction process, which is another important element for the management of this sector.