Off-Grid House Plans has more than 250 floor plans, sections, sketches, and elevations, as well as all the construction details in all projects. An Off-Grid system allows you to live without using a utility company, generating your own energy. A well designed system also has numerous environmental advantages, that help you to reduce your carbon footprint, providing cleaner, more sustainable energy. In the long-term it is financially viable, and also teaches us how to consume energy responsibly. These off-grid homes, which run on solar, wind, or hydro power, are just a few examples of how people are leaving the city behind for a life in the country in contact with nature.

"This book is for anyone who is thinking about or already living off grid and wants to learn how to build simple solar homesteading projects to make life easier. Included in this book are complete plans for several projects and all plans include pictures, step by step directions, cost and material list. Also included is an invaluable resource list for homesteaders to find just about anything they need under the sun. 1. a sturdy solar cabin for under $2000 2. a solar panel and generator energy system for under $1000 3. a solar composting toilet for under $50 4. a solar batch water heater for under $50 5. a solar food dehydrator for under $50 6. a super solar oven for under $50 7. a sturdy garden cart for under $50 8. a portable chicken tractor for under $50 x. resource and vendor list for all kinds of homesteading supplies."--Publisher's description.

A beautiful, user-friendly overview to building more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly homes using prefabrication. Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid explores the many ways of using prefabrication to build beautiful homes that are not only environmentally friendly, but also incredibly energy efficient. Profiling more than thirty of the most energy-efficient homes in the United States, this user-friendly guide reveals how homebuilders can achieve similar results—whether they want to earn an advanced green certification or just incorporate a few energy-saving measures—with the help of floor plans, detailed resource lists, explanations of the latest technologies, and brilliant photographs. Author Sheri Koones shows that building green doesn’t have to be more expensive, and in fact, can lead to dramatic savings. Koones’s almost-off-the-grid homes, which take energy from the grid when necessary and return any excess energy produced, are healthier, quieter inside, and far cheaper to operate. As energy costs continue to rise, energy independence is becoming increasingly essential, and as this guide shows, the almost-off-the-grid home is a solution that is achievable for everyone. Recipient of the 2013 Robert Bruss Gold Book Award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) Praise for Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid “The time has come to throw out the old stereotypes and to embrace prefab building techniques as the way of the future?and the best approach for today. For anyone wanting to create a house that’s sustainable in every sense of the word, this book is an excellent place to start.” —Sarah Susanka, architect and author of The Not So Big House series “You can build a high quality, environmentally friendly and efficient home at a reasonable price with a look and feel of a traditional home. Advancements like those used in our house and the other houses in this book will transform the homebuilding industry.” —Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency “This is an easy-on-the-eyes guide that includes floor plans and multiple images of the exterior and interior of each home. It is not a manual for green construction, but a general overview of aspects of prefab and green construction. And it does that well.” —Natural Life magazine

A showcase of over forty of the most exciting and unique off-grid houses in North America, across a wide variety of wild and remote landscapes.Living off the grid has become increasingly desirable in recent years. Escaping the city to be immersed in nature is ever more appealing as the pressures of everyday life increase. The need to reduce our carbon footprints as the effects of climate change become a reality has brought sustainable living, particularly in off-grid and net-zero houses, to the forefront.In Off the Grid: Houses for Escape Across North America, DominicBradbury turns to North America to showcase how architects are makingliving in the wilderness a more affordable and attainable dream. Fromcabins deep in the forest to desert homes and stunning coastal retreats,this collection of the most innovative off-grid homes reveals how cleverdesign is redefining the possibilities for living in some of the mostextraordinary natural environments on Earth.

If you dream of living in a tiny house, or creating a getaway in the backwoods or your backyard, you’ll love this gorgeous collection of creative and inspiring ideas for tiny houses, cabins, forts, studios, and other microshelters. Created by a wide array of builders and designers around the United States and beyond, these 59 unique and innovative structures show you the limits of what is possible. Each is displayed in full-color photographs accompanied by commentary by the author. In addition, Diedricksen includes six sets of building plans by leading designers to help you get started on a microshelter of your own. You’ll also find guidelines on building with recycled and salvaged materials, plus techniques for making your small space comfortable and easy to inhabit.

The evolution of contemporary environmental architecture has outstripped simple labels. A deeper pattern is emerging where the world's most innovative buildings are a response to place. They resolve the complex intertwining of the site, people and environment, providing a provocative observation of the future of architecture. By starting with the site these projects maximize the natural and cultural resources available and are humancentric. The book explores firsthand how Spain Wraps commercial buildings, Japan Condenses micro homes, and Australia Unfolds aggressive design solutions in a climate of extremes. Germany, Cascadia, Denmark, and Mexico are also featured. 30 selected projects provide the antidote to the legacy of the modernist movement of generic, technology-driven built environments. Illuminating and often surprising conversations with renowned architects on their work reveal the process and promise of hyperlocalized design which folds bold visions into low impact and unexpected buildings. Their contemporary wisdom of site responsive design offers an unprecedented insight into architecture's new place in a changing climate. [ours] Hyperlocalization of Architecture includes: Groundbreaking architecture theory Extensive interviews with world's thought leaders of environmental architecture 264 Pages 350 full-color photographs Online project index with details and multimedia at hyperlocalarch.com Interviews and Projects by: Studio 505 | PHOOEY Architects | William Mcdonough + Partners | KUD Architects | Berta Barrio Arquitectos | Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp. | Unemori Architects | Andrew Maynard Architects | Edward Mazria | Peter Busby Perkins+Will | Sean Godsell | Canvas Arquitectos | Dr. Wolfgang Feist | DesignInc | Hassell Studios | Kavellaris Urban Design | Lederer + Ragnarsdottir + Oei | Casey Brown Architecture | A.L.X. Architects | BIG | Yasuhiro Yamashita | Miller Hull | KMD Architects | MPR Design Group | Schemata Architecture | Coll-Barreu Arquitectos | Voluar Arquitecture | Durbach Block Jagger | Ramón Fernández-Alonso Arquitect "This is all based on human creativity, and the ability for us to advance and continuously improve with freedom from the remote tyranny of bad design. That's why the cultural question becomes interesting because at that point the culture can express itself in a creative way. It still has integrity because you're expressing yourself creatively within a context. Your solving for rich, local problems. All sustainability, like politics is local. It has to be." - William McDonough in [ours]

Save the earth’s most precious resource while also saving yourself money. Laura Allen provides expert strategies for using water smartly and efficiently while fulfilling all of your home and garden needs. Learn how to create a water-wise landscape, reuse greywater, harvest rainwater, and even set up a waterless composting toilet. Offering proven techniques in clear and accessible language, The Water-Wise Home makes it easy to help the environment and lower your household operating costs through conserving water.

Let The Sun Rain Down On Your Solar solidifies abstract ideas and dreams into concrete form explaining How To Build And Power A Perfect Off-Grid Home. How? Spanfelner, who built a remote off-grid home with husband Gary 9 years ago, offers practical advice to navigate the complex, perplexing process - simplifying it with step-by-step instructions.

This Old House meets Wayne’s World in this zany guide to designing and building tiny homes Derek Diedricksen has always had a love for small, modest houses ever since his father gave him the book Tiny Tiny Houses by Lester Walker for his tenth birthday. Combining his artistic abilities, wild imagination, and his passion for small houses, he self-published Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts, and Whatever the Heck Else we could Squeeze in Here in 2009. This book is a collection of Diedricksen’s creative/imaginative sketches for building small houses, shacks, cottages, and forts. The sketches are accompanied with hand-written commentary, both instructive and comical. Derek’s main purpose is to get your creative juices flowing and encourage you to get off the couch and use your hands. Believing that specific building plans squash creativity, he avoids too many detailed instructions, giving you the chance to put your own creative spin on your very own small abode (even if it is just in your imagination).