“In the United States alone, the annual construction of over one million new homes causes a very substantial drain on natural resources. Today, approximately 60 percent of the timber cut down in our country is used for building homes. Using alternative home building materials and creating a greener home are about creating better homes that are environmentally friendly, are less expensive in the long run, and create healthier occupants. Unfortunately, many people are unfamiliar with alternative building materials and do not know the first thing about going green. However, The Complete Guide to Alternative Home Building Materials & Methods will teach you everything you need to know about this movement toward natural construction methods. This book will show you how to identify, locate, and effectively use alternative building materials. You will learn about straw bale, cordwood, cob, adobe, rammed earth, light clay, pisé, earthbag, bamboo, earth-rammed tires, cork, wool carpeting, sod, compressed earth, earth plaster, beer cans, bottles, as well as living roofs and more. In addition, you will learn the costs and performance characteristics of these materials and construction techniques for each, as well as how to integrate plumbing and electricity into these unfamiliar materials and substitutes for conventional approaches.”
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How do you build cheaper cost of modern day houses and smart cities for low income earners
Many of the building methods discussed in this book are cheaper than conventional construction, so that is a start. But the cost of real estate is another matter that needs to be addressed somehow.
This book has mixed reviews at Amazon. The title may be somewhat misleading. “An Introduction to …” may be more accurate. Anyway, it’s good to see more books about natural building. It’s probably a good resource for those new to the subject. Some complained that much of the information could be found on the Internet. That’s probably true, but not everyone wants to spend 1,000 hours searching all the various topics related to natural building and alternative building materials. Sometimes a general book with a good overview is more practical.