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In simple terms, "hybrid" means the use of two or more major systems, like a hybrid car that uses a gasoline engine and an electric motor for power. In the timber-frame world, it refers to the structural systems. You have to remember that aside from being an aesthetic element, a timber frame is structural — it's holding up the building and supporting the enclosure. If the design is a hybrid, the structural work is being shared between two or more structural systems. For instance, a hybrid timber frame and structural insulated panel (SIP) building will have some structural loads borne by the timber frame and some carried by the structural panels. This hybrid system can mix the timber frame with any other structural system, i.e. insulated concrete forms (ICFs), conventional stick framing, steel framing, log, or rammed earth and straw bale. A hybrid timber frame just means that the heavy lifting is done by a mix of timber framing and some other system.

November 14, 2008

Both metal roofing and asphalt shingles have pros and cons. In his book The Good House Book: A Common-Sense Guide to Alternative Homebuilding, Clarke Snell says higher-quality asphalt shingles can be a viable option if properly chosen.  “Poor quality asphalt shingles ... are the Styrofoam cup of the building industry, [but] high-quality asphalt shingles are much cheaper than metal, easy for one person to install, accommodate roof punctures such as chimneys and skylights with rel…

Sept. 30, 2008

It’s important to understand that there is no simple response to this question. That’s because there are so many potential variables with every home and its structural and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) details. There are two main types of heat pumps: air-source and ground-source. People often get them confused. To complicate things even more, there are many variations on these two main categories. In any case, air-source heat pumps use latent heat in the air to h…

September 4, 2008

The original CINVA ram was engineered by Raul Ramirez of the Inter-American Housing Center (Spanish acronym: CINVA) in Bogota, Columbia, in 1952. The name “CINVA” has come to stand for most lever action presses that make compressed earth blocks (CEBs) one at a time, whether of the original Ramirez design or something similar. One of the design features of the original CINVA ram was that it could be fabricated just about anywhere a welder and plate steel are available. Local fabr…

August 22, 2008

When it comes to greening the shower, remember this simple rule: No vinyl, that’s final. Commonly used vinyl shower curtain liners outgas toxic chemicals, diminishing indoor air quality. Instead, look for a heavy duty shower curtain made from hemp, which is naturally antifungal and antibacterial. The thick hemp fibers will get wet, but your floor won’t. Just remember to leave the curtain extended when you’re finished showering; this promotes even drying and discourages mold growth…

June 10, 2008

Without specifics then, I’ll keep my advice general. Two basic green building tenets are “build small” and “build to last”. From the “small” point of view, ask yourself if you need a garage at all. Well-designed carports require fewer materials and can provide space that is much more flexible. For example, enclosing the back of a carport for tool storage gives you a much larger workshop than an enclosed garage.

Another angle on the same topic is to build a larger garage that fulfills…

May 9, 2008

Well, this is my first go at answering an “ask the expert” question for Mother Earth News, and you’ve come up with quite a doozy! Finding a shower surround that is not tile and meets all of your requirements was tough, but I’ve got a few good suggestions for you:

1. Concrete: A concrete shower surround is going to be quite inexpensive and can look excellent. On the eco-friendliness scale, concrete is middle-of-the-road. You can generally find it locally made and it is low-energy to pro…

April 18, 2008

There are two options for insulating houses with straw. The straw is the primary structural material in some straw-bale homes — it actually holds up the roof. More commonly, post-and-beam or timber-frame construction forms the skeleton of the building, but straw is used to fill and insulate the space between wooden posts.

With either system, the straw must stay dry and is enclosed with some kind of plaster to protect it from insects and moisture, which would allow mold or fungus to …

April 1, 2008

For your garage to be a permanent structure, you will need to dig and pour concrete footings that reach below the frost line. These footings can then support the walls and roof of the garage. The garage floor is independent of this process and does not need to be poured concrete.

Concrete itself is a necessary evil in the construction business. The embodied energy in a truck full of concrete as it arrives on your site is a big contributor to global warming. The energy (usually electr…

March 18, 2008

Concrete makes terrific countertops for kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. This option is inexpensive, DIY-friendly and yields a beautiful finished product as long as you understand a few tricks.

The first thing to realize is that traditional concrete is not what’s used to make concrete countertops. ‘Concrete’ refers to a mixture of sand, crushed stone and Portland cement, with the stone being added as low-cost filler. But bits of stone can mar the finish of a countertop if the…