Get Sust! Issue 30

Ecohouse: A Design Guide (3rd Edition)

by Sue Roaf, Manuel Fuentes and Stephanie Thomas

When the first edition of ‘Ecohouse: A Design Guide’ was published in 2001 the concept was relatively new and climate change was still a hotly debated theory, writes Achsah Carter.

By the time of the second edition in 2003 the writers were able to focus on the climate changes that were already occurring, particularly flooding. This third edition shifts the talk from ‘sustainable buildings’ to ‘passive survival’ as climate change is now widely acknowledged and feared.

The writers discuss the worrying possibility that we may fail to adequately reduce emissions and find ourselves dealing with extreme and adverse weather conditions in the not too distant future. They point to recent events such as the heatwave in Europe, the destruction of New Orleans, and rising oil and gas prices, to warn of the future we may face if we fail.

On the plus side, the writers still believe that we have the technology available to avert further catastrophes of this type, but they say we need to adapt to a more ‘eco-society’ which actually uses the available technology.

Beyond the slightly apocalyptic introduction, the rest of the book remains extremely practical and brings itself up-to-date with the latest sustainable design developments, including several new chapters on ‘Small-scale wind systems’, ‘Hydro power’, and ‘Ground source heat pumps’. It’s a dense and comprehensive tome, fully illustrated with useful diagrams, charts and colour photographs, which aims to inspire and motivate anyone who plans to build homes for the future, be they individuals or multinational developers.

The new case studies provide valuable real examples from across the globe, ranging from individual and original architecture in Oxfordshire and Manuel Fuentes’ own house in Argentina, to mass-produced photovoltaic houses in Japan, hurricane proof dwellings in the pacific, a reusable building in Norway and a social housing scheme in Venezuela.

Ecohouse may alarm readers with the authors’ assessment of what needs to be done urgently on a planetary scale, but rather than pointless scare-mongering it provides an invaluable guide of how to address these challenges and survive.

Learn more:

	•	Achsah Carter is a Project Assistant at Upstream. She has previously worked on environmental education projects with the British Council in China and has a Social Anthropology degree from the University of Cambridge.
	•	Upstream aims to help its clients – all of whom work with property – to manage the economic, social and environmental issues they face in ways that add value to their businesses and to the communities in which they operate. See www.upstreamstrategies.co.uk.
	•	Ecohouse (3rd Edition) by Sue Roaf, Manuel Fuentes and Stephanie Thomas is published by Architectural Press, price: £29.99. ISBN: 978-0-7506-6903-0 (ISBN 10: 0-7506-6903-9) Order copies from www.architecturalpress.com.