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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

PLEASE NOTE: A download link for Volume 1 will be sent to you by email and Volume 2 will be sent to you by post as a book.

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      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeApr 12th 2022
     
    Well I would still build a passivhaus, or better, and still go all-electric. Not sure if I'd add UFH or anything or do anything differently.
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    For a house to still be kept standing in 60 or a 100 years time, it will have to still be relevant to the needs of the people of that time. Crystal balls are in short supply so rather than try to predict their needs, new houses have to offer things that never go out of fashion (solidity, elegance, space, light) and/or be easily adaptable (extendable, modifiable, refurbish-able).

    Three of the last four buildings we lived in were built before 1850 with masonry walls and a timber framed roof, the fourth was from the 1970s and built the same way except with concrete block rather than stone walls, and a concrete ground floor. None of them are being heated in the way they were originally designed, they have all been insulated, extended, and rearranged internally, and had windows and kitchens and roof coverings replaced. All will last longer than their builders expected.

    I would speculate that a long-life house built now should have a solidly built masonry shell, timber frame roof, thin partition walls and floors. Services and airtight layers should be accessible/modifiable rather than integrated deep in the construction. It should look timeless on the outside rather than faddy, have plenty of light and space both inside and outside.

    The current push is for building houses with a lot of embodied energy and carbon (cement/lime, steel, polystyrene) but low running energy usage/emissions/costs. In time I would expect the pendulum to swing back the other way as energy will decarbonise faster than manufactured materials, maybe swinging towards timber and stone construction again?
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      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeApr 12th 2022 edited
     
    Posted By: WillInAberdeenI would speculate that a long-life house built now should have a solidly built masonry shell, timber frame roof, thin partition walls and floors.
    I'd disagree about the prescription of masonry shell. Sure that's one option but so is timber frame or various other possibilities. I do strongly agree about the internal walls though. All ours are pertition walls and they can all be ripped out and the interior remodelled without affecting the envelope. Ground floor is a slab so pretty much structural and first floor can in principle be replaced though will need a little more thought than the internal walls.

    Services and airtight layers should be accessible/modifiable rather than integrated deep in the construction.
    I'm not sure about this. It's a nice idea if it's practicable to arrange but airtight layers in particular are so tightly integrated with the design of the structural shell that I'm not sure it would always be practicable.

    The current push is for building houses with a lot of embodied energy and carbon (cement/lime, steel, polystyrene) but low running energy usage/emissions/costs. In time I would expect the pendulum to swing back the other way as energy will decarbonise faster than manufactured materials, maybe swinging towards timber and stone construction again?
    I think there has already been a realisation that operational energy can be (and has been in some cases) reduced such that the embodied energy becomes significant and requires thought and management. But I don't think the pendulPosted By: WillInAberdeenum will swing away from low running costs; I think that LCA etc will just be an added design cost. And I wouldn't like to predict how fast particular industries will decarbonise. Timber is a good bet though, that far I agree.
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