A presentation of contemporary houses that demonstrates how domesticity
can be beautiful and still help the planet. Have we passed a tipping
point beyond which we can no longer reverse a course of action that was
charted several decades ago Sustainable: Houses with Small Footprints
argues that we can indeed detach our dwellings from a dependence on many
external systems and resources and adopt other building practices. What
is known as living off the grid is possible, and Sustainable presents
forty-five houses that demonstrate how architects have implemented
sustainable design concepts around the world. These projects show us
what time-tested vernacular design principles--including local
materials, natural ventilation strategies, and earth shelter
construction--can teach us, as well as how the latest cutting-edge
technologies--such as indoor farming and living walls made of plant
material--can make truly sustainable design possible. The variety and
ingenuity of the projects featured here make Sustainable a uniquely
coherent and authoritative volume on sustainable residential design.