Product category:
Building Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
News Release from: Centre for Alternative Technology | Subject: The Whole House Book
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 28 April 2005
New book sets foundations for
sustainable homes
'The Whole House Book' from the Centre for Alternative Technology challenges Government and industry to build sustainability into the design and fabric of UK homes.
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
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 3 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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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.
Further reading
New Home Energy Books
A new edition of CAT bestseller 'Tapping the Sun: a guide to solar water heating' and new book 'Going with the Flow: small scale water power'.
Green Your Garden On A CAT Course
Learn to build eco-friendly garden furniture and structures, and enjoy a truly creative weekend, with the Centre for Alternative Technology's Green Woodworking and Garden Structures courses.
New Building Courses At CAT
The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) announce the new Course programme for 2005. CAT is the leading place to study environmental building techniques.
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 in witty and knowing terms 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 that prioritise profit over quality and environmental responsibility.
To celebrate the achievements of the self-build industry and to highlight the urgent need to cut household CO2 emissions (currently 28% of the UK total), the new edition of 'The Whole House Book' will be launched at this year's National Home Building and Renovating Show at the NEC, Birmingham (14th-17th April).
Author Cindy Harris will be lecturing on 'Ecological Home Design and Construction' and the first copies of the book will be on sale to industry representatives and the 50,000 visitors and self-builders expected to the event.
In the current run up to the General Election, and with the Deputy Prime Minister's controversial 'Sustainable Communities' plan, home building and house prices are a political hot potato again.
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.
* Research undertaken by CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment), HBOS plc (parent company of Halifax) and WWF.
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