Customer Reviews

Sustainable Homes: 26 Designs that Respect the Earth

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I love to collect books of house plans and blueprints and I especially like those that are environmentally friendly. Some day my family wants to afford to build such a nice house so these give us ideas. However, that only really works if we have full information -- like what types of materials are used, layouts of the floors that we can read, etc. Several, about 40% of the designs in this book lacked understandable or complete basic blueprints for the structure. Only a page or two about the building and the philosophy behind it were included. Primarily this is a pretty picture book and for $30 it should be more.

James Grayson Truelove rides the gravytrain of bait-and-switch coffee table fare. His chosen form lures the reader in with promises of topics we long to LEARN about, and a few succulent photographs, only to find the actual product, when delivered, bereft of content...frustrating, unsatisfying calories for an audience truly hungry for information and knowledge. read the reviews for all of his books and you will notice a recurring theme...we've seen most of these houses (even the same shots) in magazines before...readers were hoping for more detail...many people seem really ready for information about how to buck the degrading tide of mainstream housing, how to do it artfully, efficiently, and affordably. it seems almost cruel to cheat such a group of eager, open-minded, ahead-of-the-bellcurve people whose attempts to thwart the destructive housing industry are going to provide answers for the future. what a wasted opportunity. I think Mr. Truelove has the ABILITY, and he obviously has the resources, to do much better.

This is a book of sumptuous photos and graceful, though scant, commentary. Featured are sophisticated homes in beautiful, sometimes dramatic settings. Yet contrasting with the title, the brief description of each house seems more to emphasize aesthetics than "sustainability." Dennis Wedlick's forward succinctly lists a few elements like super-insulation, and non-toxic materials; but too little along these lines is discussed in Trulove's text in relation to the specific houses. Occasional fundamental or innovative details of construction, siting, or materials do show up, but more often the discussion is about traditional architectural concerns (like interior space and extensive windows) and stylistic considerations (like exterior cladding, and interior paneling). Besides the photos, the floor plans and roof-line illustrations are informative (though small). And occasionally the text and the photos come together nicely to reveal an interesting design feature - as when an extensive overhanging roof used in an especially sunny climate provides shade for windows (presumably reducing air-conditioning needs). But this book is nowhere near as intensive in its investigation of its featured homes, nor of sustainabile-home concepts or tech, as numerous other available books on the same topic (such as David Pearson's The Natural House).

Sustainability is something that seems to defy definition at this time. Personally, I believe that part of it has to do with lifestyle. I think it is terrific that when pallacial homes are built they bring efficiencies into play. There are many good ideas in this book. Some of them have already been incorporated into projects I am building. That does not make them "Designs that Respect the Earth". Most of these structures are not what I would call sustainable. I would, however say that they are more effecient than they could have been.

Dont get me wrong, I am glad that these are being built the way they are. It is just that the title makes a bold claim I call to question.

They are, in some cases beautiful and as I said, some of the ideas are being incorporated into current projects of Eco-Con Building Systems, Inc.

This is a beautiful book and we ordered because we wanted a coffee table book and also some ideas for sustainable home design. It does all that and more. I know some reviewers were disappointed that there were not more guidelines on how-to. We had covered that so we were ready for some pure visual ideas. Highly recommended if that is what you want. All in all at the very least this is a splendid coffee table book and provides food for thought on how magnificent sustainable design can be.