The Hybrid House: Designing With Sun, Wind, Water, and Earth

by Catherine Wanek, Kelly Lerner (Illustrator)

Tap renewable resources to reduce carbon consumption and increase energy efficiency. The Hybrid House highlights real people who have used a combination of design strategies to reduce their energy use—sometimes by as much as 90 percent! Author and photographer Catherine Wanek showcases sustainable new and renovated houses that incorporate natural building materials like straw bales, adobe and real wood, with renewable energy systems, that will minimize a modern home's carbon footprint, while ensuring a healthy environment for residents. See inspiring contemporary examples from the United States, Canada and Europe. Catherine Wanek is the author and photographer of The New Strawbale Home and co-editor/author of The Art of Natural Building. She lives in Hillsboro, New Mexico.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Kim]

This was a hard book to rate, based on what I hoped to get out of it, it was only a 2 star. Other people might have different goals, and given the wealth of nice photographs, wide variance in locale covered and much helpful data given, it could well be a 4 star book for others. Hence, the 3 star rating. For me, I was hoping the Earth in the title might imply earth sheltered, but the primary mode of building was straw bale. It showed homes in several areas of the USA, including midwest, southwest, northeast and more, as well as areas of Europe. I appreciated the fact that many of the homes included price/sq.foot to build, but the prices scared me! I'm not looking for a $300-$660K house! Perhaps the best part of the book for me was seeing so many places where homes built with alternate building materials are being allowed.