A Design and Construction Handbook for Energy-Saving Houses [antikvár]

Introduction This is a unique book which describes a very different way of building houses. Many people have written books about building your own house. Others have written about how to design solar-heated houses. While this book has elements of both, it is distinctly different from either. A common theme among all of the housing books is that they are usually written by people who design houses, not by people who build houses. My aim is to set before the layman a logical construction sequence which will "demystify" the many tasks and trades of building. You see, building is not all that difficult. When I was six years old, my father let me dismantle a chicken coop and use the lumber to build a tree house. Since we lived in an area with few trees large enough for a tree house, I built a structure somewhat similar to a bridge which spanned three trees. Just how I accomplished this with no construction knowledge or experience in the use of tools is still a bit of a mystery. If I could build a tree house at age six, there is no reason why any reasonably competent adult cannot build his own house. Every one of the houses shown in this book was under construction during 1979, so all of the techniques and ideas suggested here are thoroughly tested and up to date. The truly unique feature of these houses is that they use traditional building materials in a way which makes them safer, stronger, and easier to build. No one idea means much by itself, but a combination of them produces significant savings in time and materials. Drawing from my extensive background in commercial building, I have combined principles normally used in metal industrial buildings with traditional post and beam framing to create an easy-to-build structural shell. High-quality, commercial-grade sealants and coatings not usually found in residential construction enable the beginning carpenter to make economical installations of sheets of fixed glass. These same sealing materials make possible simple, easy-to-build doors and windows by eliminating complex joinery otherwise necessary for weather protection. Special finish materials and installation techniques permit the use of locally milled, rough-sawn lumber instead of using great quantities of fuel to transport lumber hundreds of miles. In addition, these integrated designs make use of every inch of space and use all materials in the most efficient manner. It is not coincidence that they cost a lot less to build than conventionally designed houses. They also cost very little to heat and cool and virtually nothing to maintain. Within the last few years America's growth rate in productivity and research and development has declined so that we are now competing with Great Britain in both areas. In fact, Japan has assumed the role of the highest-paying country in the world while the United States is rapidly slipping out of the top ten (we are number six at this writing). Japan, Germany, France, and Italy are all pushing ahead of us. Greedy businessmen and unions have milked the economy dry. The policies of maximum profits and maximum wages regardless of consequence are taking their toll. The United States has been left years behind in such basic technologies as steel and automobile production. The severe energy shortages now in the offing will aggravate the situation. Our housing industry is sick. It has been hit by