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From the beginning of history, every civilization has used earth to create beautiful, durable and affordable shelter. Author, engineer, and earth builder David Easton hosts this thirty-minute documentary on the history of earth construction and the refined techniques now in use. See for yourself the beauty, strength and logic of building with earth.

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Before you build your home, read this definitive guide to designing with the sun in mind by Mother Earth News contributing editor Dan Chiras. Learn how you can cut your energy bills in half by choosing the best passive solar heating and cooling techniques.

Passive solar heating and passive cooling — approaches known as natural conditioning — provide comfort throughout the year by reducing, or eliminating, the need for fossil fuel. Yet while heat from sunlight and ventilation from breezes is free for the taking, few modern architects or builders really understand the principles involved.

Now Chiras, author of the popular book The Natural House, brings those principles up to date for a new generation of solar enthusiasts.

The techniques required to heat and cool a building passively have been used for thousands of years. Early societies such as the Native American Anasazis and the ancient Greeks perfected designs that effectively exploited these natural processes. The Greeks considered anyone who didn't use passive solar to heat a home to be a barbarian!

In the United States, passive solar architecture experienced a major resurgence of interest in the 1970s in response to crippling oil embargoes. With grand enthusiasm but with scant knowledge (and sometimes little common sense), architects and builders created a wide variety of solar homes. Some worked pretty well, but looked more like laboratories than houses. Others performed poorly, overheating in the summer because of excessive or misplaced windows and skylights, and growing chilly in the colder months because of insufficient thermal mass and insulation and poor siting.

In The Solar House, Chiras sets the record straight on the vast potential for passive heating and cooling. Acknowledging the good intentions of misguided solar designers in the past, he highlights certain egregious — and entirely avoidable — errors. More importantly, Chiras explains in methodical detail how today's home builders can succeed with solar designs.

Now that energy efficiency measures including higher levels of insulation and multi-layered glazing have become standard, it is easier than ever before to create a comfortable and affordable passive solar house that will provide year-round comfort in any climate.

Moreover, since modern building materials and airtight construction methods sometimes result in air-quality and even toxicity problems, Chiras explains state-of-the-art ventilation and filtering techniques that complement the ancient solar strategies of thermal mass and daylighting. Chiras also explains the new diagnostic aids available in printed worksheet or software formats, allowing readers to generate their own design schemes.

About the Author
Daniel D. Chiras is the author of The Natural House. He holds a Ph.D. in physiology and teaches courses on sustainability and environmental health at the universities of Colorado and Denver. He is the author of five college and high school text books as well as other books on global environmental issues. Chiras is also an avid musician, organic gardener, river runner and bicyclist. He lives with his family in a passive solar/solar electric, straw bale and rammed tire house in Evergreen, Colorado.

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A state-of-the-art guide to designing and building a home. See how things really work, from foundation and framing to plumbing and electricity, to selecting the right materials and products. Understand the latest construction options. Resolve questions of cost durability, and design.

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For the money, it is perhaps the best single-volume compendium of information for the do-it-yourselfer. How to repair, clean and maintain furniture, plumbing, appliances, home electronics, yard and workshop tools.

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This 160-page book is a blueprint for blending the past and present in home design. The examples provide tips on utilizing these elements to add character to a new home, and to incorporate age-old materials into any design style.

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The lessons and legacies from our architectural past, as well as the newest modern design ideas, inform and inspire the log-home architect, builder, interior designer or buyer. Clearly illustrated sections on care, maintenance and construction details.

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Features owner-built homes, recycled log homes and historic renovations. The authors show some stunning examples of personal details that make a home stand out. The reader is led through the steps of designing and constructing a small log building.

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This new edition of Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life brings together the Nearings' classic guides to the theory and practice of rural homesteading.

Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, Mother Earth News is recommending books to its readers. For more than 30 years, Mother Earth News has been North America’s “Original Guide to Living Wisely,” creating books and magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to live in harmony with nature.