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'Whole House Book' Updated and Revised

The fully revised and updated ‘The Whole House Book’ from the Centre for Alternative Technology challenges Government and industry to take sustainability beyond the planning and political rhetoric and build it into the design and fabric of UK homes. On its first publication in 1998, ‘The Whole House Book’ from CAT Publications challenged the Government to write sustainable building practice into its housing rules to ensure developers played their part in the battle against climate change.

Now, seven years on, little has changed, and hardly a new home has been built with the necessary standards of energy and water efficiency, solar orientation and ‘green’ materials-use that meet the demands of the global climate crisis. But while developers, builders and the Government have dithered over housing standard improvements, a growing and significant number of concerned individuals and self-builders have taken up the initiative. Fully revised and updated for 2005, the new edition of ‘The Whole House Book’ challenges the construction industry to catch up by highlighting the best self-build, community owned and ‘green’ developer-led initiatives in Britain, Europe and the United States, and the eco-materials, principles and practices that underpin them.
 
Authors of ‘The Whole House Book’ – respected eco-builder, Cindy Harris, and architect, Pat Borer – examine all the elements of building, renovating, extending or improving a home using sustainable techniques and products. Full of information and advice on everything from the foundations up to the roof insulation – including site location, materials, water conservation, solar energy use and, of course, energy efficiency – the book imparts the wisdom gained from the authors’ vast design and building experience. Throughout, they promote the combined social, economic and ecological objectives that would bring an end to the history of the UK homeowner short-changed by developers who prioritise profit over quality and environmental responsibility.
 
In the light of the Deputy Prime Minister’s controversial ‘Sustainable Communities’ plan, home building and house prices are currently a political hot potato. But as concerns about the quantity of planned new homes drown out questions of the quality of their design and the sustainability of their fabric, ‘The Whole House Book’ shows what the UK’s homes could be like if developers wished it. And with research showing that 84% of house buyers would be prepared to pay more for an eco-home*, industry leaders would do well to read it.

The 'Whole House Book' is available from our online bookstore. Use the link below.
Green Building Press  
 
www.newbuilder.co.uk/books/book_wholehouse.asp

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