I have no idea where to start, there is sooo much out there when I Google It.
We are looking to build a house soon, and the material that is touted for our design plan is polystyrene.

The walls would be cement with polystyrene sandwiched in between.

Any help is MOST appreciated.
:hbeat:

I'm not sure there is a book. Everything seems to be in articles in magazines, or online. I don't know that this current round of greening has gelled enough to have a standard set of answers accessible in book form.

I know that when I read articles, the builders are saying that the consumers are ahead of them, more aware and more connected to green sources. I would think this would be true, since greening is more white collar, and building more blue collar. Also, if you're building, the cost is always a foremost concern, but if you are a careful consumer, cost and show might not be the paramount concern. Like, Toll Brothers, this giant homebuilding concern- won't build green. They say if people had to choose between crown moulding, and more insulation, invariably they chose moulding. Also, let's see, a book by Stormy O' Martiaan ( do not hold this against me, please) she talked to a California builder who was proud of the fact that he didn't put any insulation into California houses.

Oddly enough, botht the NYT, and the WSJ have reporters doing green stories. Sometimes freelancers write them, too. But the articles also tend to mention builders, and sources. The WSJ is for people comfortable with spreadsheets, so they'll throw in an astonishingly detailed amount of information.

I want to say there is a magazine called green building, or sustainable building, or something of that nature. There is, of course, Mother Earth News. Rodale Books might have a booklist of interest to you, since it's all about natural, pesticide free living.

Styrofoam? In concrete? That just has a joke in it, somewhere. Involving Marshmallows, white bread and Elvis.

ari

Thank you, Ari for all of your ideas. I agree, I should look into magazine information, here and in the US. That bit about the builder who was proud of the homes without Insulation...ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!peopl e are so strange.

I came across this; The Evolution of an Independent Home by Fowler.

Tara had mentioned it some time ago. It looks like something I might want to read.

It sounds like ICF (insulated concrete forms) which is what we will be using next spring to build our new home. Basically it is foam building blocks that have concrete poured intot he middle of them. They have THE best insulation factor available as far as I can see. I know people w/ 5000sqft houses and $50 electric bills! Sounds crazy to me, but I am hoping ours will be like that. We are also paying more for better windows. At first I didn't like the idea of using the styrofoam (not exactly sure what it is) but when I considered that our house will be here for years, and they can withstand Hurricane force winds, I decided that it was worth it. My ILs have a log home and it also heats and cools well, but I don't think it's for us.

It sounds like ICF (insulated concrete forms) which is what we will be using next spring to build our new home. Basically it is foam building blocks that have concrete poured intot he middle of them. They have THE best insulation factor available as far as I can see. I know people w/ 5000sqft houses and $50 electric bills! Sounds crazy to me, but I am hoping ours will be like that. We are also paying more for better windows. At first I didn't like the idea of using the styrofoam (not exactly sure what it is) but when I considered that our house will be here for years, and they can withstand Hurricane force winds, I decided that it was worth it. My ILs have a log home and it also heats and cools well, but I don't think it's for us.
sounds great:) I think we are talking about the same thing. I have since spoken to someone who says We can use 'air blocks' between the concrete wall.s I have not looked into it yet, though.
:)
do you have a design plan for your house?

There's a back issue (maybe a year ago?) in MEN about the insulation blocks you seem to be referring to. There's a how-to on it, IIRC.