This guide for nonconventional home builders provides inspiration for using salvaged and reclaimed materials to build affordable, environmentally friendly dwellings and offers case studies of projects meeting this challenge, including Phoenix Commotion, Haberae and Builders of Hope. Original

Sustainable Home is a stylish, inspirational and practical guidebook to maintaining a more environmentally friendly household. Sustainable lifestyle blogger and professional Christine Liu takes you on a tour through the rooms of your home – the living area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom – offering tips, tricks and 18 step-by-step projects designed to help you lead a more low-impact lifestyle. Whether its by making your own toothpaste, converting to renewable energy sources, reducing your consumption of plastic, growing your own herb garden or upcycling old pieces of furniture, there are numerous ways – both big and small – to make a difference. With environmental issues at the forefront of global politics, the desire to make small changes on an individual level is on the rise; this book will guide anyone hoping to make a difference, but who perhaps don’t know where to begin.

The green building movement has produced hundreds of “how-to” books and websites that are filled with tips about green building and what homeowners should do to go green. While helpful and informative, when it comes to making actual purchasing and installation decisions, these books do not make it any easier for a homeowner to prioritize against a budget. Here, Schifman shares her knowledge and experience for others to use in their journey toward a greener way of living. Whether the reader is building a new home or doing a minor remodel, a homeowner needs a framework by which to guide their decisions. These decisions are based on values, and the author posits that there are really only three reasons to go green: For Our Health: By building more sustainably, we reduce our exposure to harmful chemicals and toxins. For Our Wealth: By building a more durable home and being more efficient with resources like water and electricity, we reduce our monthly utility bills and ongoing maintenance expenses. For Our Soul: Collectively doing the right thing for our planet does make a difference—and that is soul-nourishing. Learn the logistics of choosing windows, insulation, appliances, and lighting. Find out about FSC certified wood and about using reclaimed materials. Here is everything you need to make your home sustainable.

Since the start of the twenty-first century, urban communities have faced increasing challenges in housing affordability, with environmental issues causing additional concern. It is clear that changes to urban housing are needed to enhance the resilience of cities and improve the economic, social and physical well-being of residents. This book provides a comparative cross-national perspective on urban housing and sustainability in Europe, exploring the key barriers and drivers associated with sustainable urban development and community regeneration. Country-specific chapters allow for easy comparison, with each summarizing how sustainable housing operates in the country in question, before going on to discuss the key barriers and drivers at play. This book brings a sustainability perspective to the comparative housing literature which frequently fails to integrate the social, economic and environmental pillars of sustainability. The book outlines many of the changes that professionals and residents will need to make to their practices and cultures in order to enhance housing resilience. Students, researchers and professionals with an interest in sustainable housing creation and regeneration will find this book an invaluable reference.

Written by experts using case studies of latest practice, Sustainable Housing brings new perspectives on residential sustainability and is based upon the 'Housing and Sustainability' conference at the RIBA in 1998.

This book investigates co-housing as an alternative housing form in relation to sustainable urban development. Co-housing is often lauded as a more sustainable way of living. The primary aim of this book is to critically explore co-housing in the context of wider social, economic, political and environmental developments. This volume fills a gap in the literature by contextualising co-housing and related housing forms. With focus on Denmark, Sweden, Hamburg and Barcelona, the book presents general analyses of co-housing in these contexts and provides specific discussions of co-housing in relation to local government, urban activism, family life, spatial logics and socio-ecology. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in a broad range of social-scientific fields concerned with housing, urban development and sustainability, as well as to planners, decision-makers and activists.

Sustainable housing is generally used to describe housing that is environmentally friendly and resource-efficient over the lifetime of the building. Homes are designed to have the least possible negative impact on the environment. This means energy efficiency, avoiding environmental toxins, and responsibly using materials and resources while having positive physical and psychological effects on inhabitants. This book presents a comprehensive overview of sustainable housing, starting from legislation and ending with the design and configuration of homes.