Chris Magwood - Essential Sustainable Home Design: A Complete Guide to Goals, Options, and the Design Process

Praise for

Essential Sustainable Home Design

Its all here. Everything you need to know about designing a sustainable home, for you, your family and the planet. Easy to read and understand while tackling a myriad of complex subjects. Well illustrated and filled with useful information.

Martin Hammer, architect, co-author of the Strawbale, Light Straw-Clay and Tiny Houses appendices in the International Residential Code

Chris has given us a wonderful gift in this book. The rational approach to design criteria is excellent and thorough, measured with humour and honesty based on his experience building sustainably over the past 20 plus years. I will be referring prospective clients and colleagues alike to Essential Sustainable Home Design.

Tim Krahn, LEED AP, P. Eng.

Once again, Chris Magwood has put his deep and broad experience to excellent use in creating this book. The book is both comprehensive and concise, covering in a highly useful format, all the important aspects of the process of seeking sustainable goals in designing a house. Chris couples his extensive and rigorous approach to research, experimentation, and learning, with his gift for teaching and communicating what hes learned. The result is another terrific addition to the sustainable design and building literature.

David Eisenberg, Director, Development Center for Appropriate Technology

Finally! An up-to-date overview of the most important approaches and questions to address when making a more sustainable home. This book is essential in navigating the overwhelming field of sustainable house design and distills it down to its basics, allowing one to make informed decisions about creating their home.

Ben Falk, MALD, author, The Resilient Farm and Homesteadand Whole Systems Design, LLC

I found this to be a useful and comprehensive guide to the entire process of creating a sustainable and resilient home by a leading exponent of sustainable building practices. The author correctly stresses the importance of process determining the objectives of the project up front, specifying clear project goals, and putting together an appropriate team to realise these goals. Also stressed are the decision-making processes and the importance of understanding the big picture implications of decisions. These are essential but often overlooked aspects of creating a sustainable home.

Dr. Mark Gorgolewski, Chair of the Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University, Toronto.

This wonderful book by Chris Magwood offers a wealth of knowledge about the materials, systems and processes needed to design better homes. Two things set this book apart from other green guides: The Approach section gives you the tools you need to create your own set of goals and criteria, and the section on Materials and Systems offers a comprehensive and unbiased review of both green and mainstream materials.

Larry Strain, FAIA LEED AP, SIEGEL & STRAIN Architects

Creating a home from scratch is a rare opportunity to express our deepest values. If those values include health and planetary ecology the process can be especially daunting because these are not the primary values of the conventional housing market, and the Green building world is multifaceted with information that often seems contradictory. In Essential Sustainable Home Design, Chris has written an intelligent synthesis of all things green, presented in an easy-to-understand format to help future home owners make the best choices for every stage in creating their new home.

Paula Baker-Laporte FAIA co-author, Prescriptions for a Healthy Houseand The EcoNest Home