5 comments about Green By Design: Creating a Home for Sustainable Living.

1. This introductory guide to sustainable living will give you new ideas for building your home in an environmentally-friendly way.



2. I agree with Bill below - this book is outdated. The author seems to miss the concept of ecological footprint. The first two houses she features in her book are 3,300 sq ft (for three people) and 3,000 sq ft (for two people). Another house is 4,175 sq ft.
   
   Even if people use green materials and building practices, the houses aren't green if they're using excessive materials and space.
   
   There are a number of better green books, but one that specifically focuses on minimizing environmental impact is Little House on a Small Planet by Shay Salomon.



3. I am a SoCA tract homeowner getting ready to relocate to the mountains of northern Utah. My husband and I are committed to building a home that is environmentally responsible, but the "green" concept is absolutely overwhelming. Green by Design is a terrific overview of the concept of sustainable living. Through the several case studies we learned that we would not have to be locked into an ugly straw box or uglier geodesic dome, and this book gave us just what we needed for next steps. If you already have expertise in this area and are looking for a how-to, I'm sure there are more appropriate books to help you build your home. However, if you want an introduction, this book does a great job.



4. This book uses a lot of buzz words and offers very little substantial advice when it comes to actually designing your own house. It touches a little on straw bale and reused materials and barely grazes cob/clay/rammed earth. It doesn't even mention geodesic domes as far as I can tell. The book advocates on one page (p.72) that people should live in small humble buildings, only having the square footage they absolutely need. Then a few pages later (p.79) it shows a 4000+ sq. ft. home, with the title "an excersize in efficiency." I fail to see anything efficeint about a 4000 sq. ft. home, especially when it's a standard A-frame building (granted, it's for a family of 6, but then again there's nothing "green" about having 4 children).
   
   It does cover some good stuff like gray-water use, rain collection, alternative heating and cooling, but it glosses over all of this and takes up a lot of space with strange-angled shots of rooms and floor plans. I KNOW the floor plan I want, and there's very little that a floor plan has to do with green building (it's more about orientation to the sun for passive solar use). What I'd prefer to have seen was simple diagrams of how the systems of the house work. There's a spot that explains how one house has the pool hooked up to the AC such that the hot exhaust from the AC heats the pool. Now THAT's something I can get into, but I want more than a couple sentences about it. That deserves a diagram!



5. My 50's Florida ranch style home is in the design stage for major remodel. In the the first "case study" in Green by Design the owner's took a 50's style one bedroom home in Utah and incorporated the foundation and concrete masonry shell into the new design. Exactly my plan. The author uses 14 green design homes as case studies with wonderfully insightful pictures and just the right text to accompany the pictures and to explain "process", "design", "site", "materials", "space", "energy"- all concepts I can use to make my newly remodeled home a certifiable Florida Green Home.
   
   Building Green is NOT about the latest designs and materials as the previous reviewers would have you believe. It's about designing for "sustainable living". Go to floridagreenbuilding.org to find a 5 page checklist of features required to build a green home in Florida. Nothing will get you more points (other than a small home) in this 5 page checklist than not having a permament irrigation system. In fact not having a swimming pool, not living on a natural body of water and not having an attached garage all count toward living "green" in Florida. If you want an up-to-date and "exhaustive resource" buy the latest edition of the "Greenspec Directory"-$89.00 here on Amazon. However the last 5 pages of this book is a list of resources, including the Greenspec Directory and 5 local green building programs. With Florida's now you have 6.
   
   The ultimate green home is a SMALL HOME! In Florida, a 1000 sq. ft. home will get you 50 points (out of 200 required minimum for certification) and a 2000 and above sq. ft. home will get you 0 points. Over 50% of the case study homes in this book would have recieved extra points if they would have been built in Florida. Which brings me to the regional focus of this book. Most of the homes featured where located in western states ( a few were in the northeast) and normally that would disqualify most books for a Florida resident, but not in this case.
   
   I highly recommend this book if you are serious about designing a home for sustainable living.

5 comments about Basic Perspective Drawing: A Visual Guide.

1. I have trouble getting things in perspective - especially when I start adding other buildings or objects that come in at different angles. This book is great because it gives 1, 2, and 3 point perspectives, contrast and tonal shading techniques, projections for plans, practice object drawings with curves and landscape drawings. It even gives example of people proportions, and movements, and clothing. I have been looking for a book like this for awhile. It is very easy to follow and it really has every aspect covered. A great foundation to build upon.



2. This book is the perfect perspective guide and reference. Great for beginners and knowledgeable alike. I highly recommend this book.



3. I needed this book for one of my college classes and the Amazon price was almost 3/4 cheaper then in the schools book store. This book was only used for about 3-4 months and from what I saw from the textbook... it was great. I learned a lot and I might keep it around just in case I need it for a future math class. But overall, I give it an A...



4. This is one of the best and most informative books on the subject of perspective I've read or studied. Thank you very much for making this book available.



5. For some reason, perspective is the boogey-man of many people learning to draw. It doesn't have to be that way. This book will help you put that sense of solidity and reality into a drawing.

   This book gives a clear, step by step introduction to the basics of drawing in perspective. Interior and exterior; 1-, 2-, and 3-point; they're all here. The techniques are all graphical, and require only basic ability to handle simple drafting tools.

   As the title says, this covers just the basics. It covers them thoroughly, so the hard-working reader should come away from it with very usable skills.

No comments about Architectural Drawing Course: Tools and Techniques for 2D and 3D Representation.

3 comments about French Island Elegance.

1. Having read Dr. Connors' previous books, Caribbean Elegance and Cuban Elegance, I looked forward to French Island Elegance. I was not dissapointed.
   
   Once again Dr.Connors has provided us with a well-researched and easily readable narrative accompanied by Bruce Buck's sumptuous photographs. The two of them have developed into a winning team.
   
   French Island Elegance will not only look great on anyone's coffee table, but is a wonderful resource on a subject that heretofore has had none.



2. Sure this could be seen as another stylish table topper where we imagine ourselves sipping bellinis while overlooking fishermen--but what's rare in French Island Elegance when compared to the other three inch thick coasters, is that the author and photographer really did their homework. This is not an embellishment. It's not an ambiance bound between covers either. Connors discusses the rare qualities of Martinique, Guadaloupe, Marie-Galante, and Saint Martin in their own histories of sugar plantations and tobacco dynasties. He examines, quite aesthetically, how the cross section of economic and social histories compose a unique archicture and style not yet lost to the modern world--no, it's not just a pretty book for the coffee table after all.



3. This is a lovely book - suitable on any coffee table.
   I had been looking for a book on Caribbean architecture - historic and contemporary, but had come up short and this book too, did not fit the bill. I found it is mostly about the FURNITURE of the French Caribbean islands. As such, it does an excellent job and in that way, it is fairly similar to the author's other book `Caribbean Elegance'. It certainly has the same look and I think some of the examples may be the same. The pictures are lovely, the furniture is quite unusual and the text proved interesting, though I could have had more.
   The closest I have come to finding a book on Caribbean architecture is `Caribbean Style'.

No comments about Design Charrettes for Sustainable Communities.

1 comments about Stickley's Craftsman Home: Plans, Drawings and Photographs.

1. This book is a dream if you love Stickley's homes. This book has all of Stickley's plans, and I found it a fascinating read. I really loved dreaming while reading, and the pictures and info were wonderful.

No comments about Mastering Revit Architecture 2009.

3 comments about Mastering AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007 (Mastering).

1. Very good reference book for beginers and advanced users as well. It really helped on learning many of the new cool features of AutoCAD 2007.



2. I read the same book of year 2000 print, and this one is good. It cantains all information needed to run autocad program, 2D and 3D. It is eazy to understand, and step by step guided. I haven't read other books related this matter, but I Think this is very good, worth the price.
   Thanks



3. He explains very well. enough detail to be valuable to experts and simple enough for intermediate. Very Good.

2 comments about Le Modulor and Modulor 2 [ENGLISH EDITION].

1. The books arrived well packaged and on time. The books however were a little smaller than what I anticipated since the last time I reviewed these same books was at a local library, but nevertheless I was impressed that the books did come in a compacted design. For what better way to show off the design tool called the Modulor by placeing a picture of it on it's very own jacket that comes with the books. You feel as if the whole box set is some sort of handy carpenters tape measure to carry 'round with you.The inside of the book is full of explanatory remarks about perfecting, creating and applying this human scale ruler which incorporates the practical use of what is termed the Golden Section and thereby adhereing it to his/your own building designs. For those of you who are avid Golden Ratio/Section seekers these two books are a great gift idea and a great collectors item.The books also include many letters too from his colleagues who critique and sometimes try to disprove his modular idea, that it really works.I have included pictures to show you the overall appearance of both books and its smart jacket design. Therefore I say an excellant choice and would recommend to college students, Architects, and all those versed in the Arts in general



2. Le Corbusier had been working for some time on his Modulor system using these French decimal measurements but without much success. Then one of his collaborators, Py, said: "Isn't the height we are working with rather a French height? Have you ever noticed that in English detective novels the hero is always six feet tall?" Le Corbusier continues: " We then applied this standard. To our delight, the graduations of a new Modulor, based on a man six feet tall, translated themselves into round figures in feet and inches". (hardly surprising when you consider that this is a natural system of measure.).

4 comments about Structure as Architecture: A Source Book for Architects and Structural Engineers.

1. If architecture is viewed as ideas of establishing different relationships between people and space, then structure is the first step to achieve these relationship in reality. How do we appropriately use different structure elements in reality, what kind of architectural effects will them create? These questions are answered in Andrew W.Charleson's book 'Structure as architecture'. The book is divided into chapters such as function/exterior/interior of buildings,structural detailing, light and structures and so on, which are discussed from both theoretical and practical approach. With enormous amount of first hand photo illustrations, the book also gives a comprehensive visual case studies to the reader. It is enjoyable to read and I recommend this stunning book to all architectural, building science students as well as architects and engineers in practice.



2. Although Architecture and Engineering are really only different sides of the same coin, they are often treated in completely different ways. Certainly they are normally approached from different directions. Charleson's book addresses this lack of continuity, and reduces structural diagrams down to a simple level (good for architecture students) as well as opening up the ideas of light and air and structure to thoseof a more engineering bent... And from all accounts he's a pretty inspirational lecturer as well, with the students fizzing away with excitement.
   
   End result: if you are a student of Architecture or Engineering, then rush out and buy this book. Invaluable source of knowledge - guaranteed to help you through those exams...



3. As per name, this book provides an excellent reference to building structures that expresses its architectural ideas. The book is well written and provides examples from around the world! ^_^



4. I am a student studying architecture, and have found this book to be a very useful reference.
   
   The first time I used it, I was looking for specific examples of "expressive" architecture. In the index, I found a long list of qualities such as "grounded", "light", "dynamic" etc. with references to pages illustrating specific projects whose structure has those qualities. The clear, full colour photos really help you get the feel of the buildings.
   
   I don't know of any other book that I could have looked to for that purpose. Of course, the content is useful for numerous other reasons as well.