Building your own Sustainable and Energy Efficient House

(Hardback)

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Many people aspire to one day build a house for themselves but for one reason or another they have never taken the plunge. This book explains how to go about building a home that will save you money, save energy, minimize carbon emissions and greenhouse gas production [the main causes of climate change] and above all, provide a home of exceptional thermal comfort, not too hot, not too cold, in fact just right for you and your family. This invaluable book is aimed primarily at self-builders who wish to shadow the work of subcontractors they employ. It provides a step-by-step guide to the whole process from your first notion to build, right the way through to completion. In particular, it emphasizes energy efficiency in both the design and construction phases for the two common methods of building: masonry and timber-frame construction. Checklists are provided in every chapter to ensure that all of the major issues have been adequately dealt with. You can use the checklists to ensure that you have covered all of the relevant tasks associated with the particular phase. If, however, you are paying somebody else to do the work for you, then you can use the checklist as a briefing document and a quality control control measure to ensure that the main aspects of the particular process are covered. AUTHOR Henry Skates is a practising architect, educator, self-builder and Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method assessor. He has worked in a number of practices in Scotland and Northern Ireland, built and renovated a number of houses for himself and family, and has held lecturing positions at the Universities of Dundee, Ulster, Queens University Belfast and Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. ILLUSTRATIONS 155 colour

Author Bio

Henry Skates is a practising architect, educator, self-builder and Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method assessor. He has worked in a number of practices in Scotland and Northern Ireland, built and renovated a number of houses for himself and family, and has held lecturing positions at the Universities of Dundee, Ulster, Queens University Belfast and Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.