Speed up my Brain

Hacking the Earthship: In Search of an Earth-Shelter that Works for EveryBody by Rachel Preston Prinz

>> Monday, April 20, 2015

Hacking the Earthship: In Search of an Earth-Shelter that Works for EveryBody is a comprehensive collection of academic and in-the-field research findings on Earthships, combined with practical how-to advice for designing and financing your own truly sustainable earth-sheltered home.

Author Rachel Preston Prinz and contributing authors discuss the history, research, design issues, and evolution of Earthships, drawing on the knowledge of thousands of builders, craftsmen, and designers who have mastered the art of earth sheltering. Then, they walk readers step by step through design, offering a wealth of resources that can inspire, inform, and educate. Within, readers will find the tools needed to understand their place's culture, architecture, and climate... and the ideal building methods for their climate, personality, values, and budget.
THE NEW GENERATION OF EARTHSHIP ENTHUSIASTS:
• Does not want to cart questionable building materials long distances and call it “green”.
• Wants to build locally and naturally… and they want to build it themselves.
• Wants their buildings to be cool in summer, warm in winter, the humidity to be predictable and regular; and they want to minimize pests and allergens.
• Wants to be able to get a permit and insurance, and resell their homes if they want to; or pass them on if they can.
• They want a smaller home that is “just right”… for their budget, time, ability, energy use, and maintenance.
• They want to make their home easy to manage, maintain, and get around in, even if they are in a walker or wheelchair.
• They want their home to feel like it is made from and relating to the earth: in views, in light, in fresh air, in the ability to grow food, and in a beautiful landscape that supports the home.
Finding the balance between all these desires is a delicate and lengthy process of discernment, study, and goal-setting. That is what this book aims to help you do.
Chapter 1 THE EARTHSHIP REALITY PROJECT discusses the issues and resolutions of the design.
Chapter 2 THE SCIENCE: ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND TIRE OFF-GASSING reviews academic and scientific research.
Chapter 3 A WAY FORWARD discusses financing and insurance, minimizing waste, managing the complexities of the build, visioning, and Code requirements.
Chapter 4 THE BUILDING’S CONTEXT AND SITE addresses the site and landscape.
Chapter 5 DESIGNING FOR THERMAL COMFORT addresses natural, mechanical, and design options for improving thermal performance. Topics covered include passive solar design; thermal mass versus insulation; earth-coupling versus earth-sheltering; thermal and moisture protection; and natural ventilation.
Chapter 6 THE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM addresses the ways we can form the building’s structure.
Chapter 7 THE ENCLOSURE SYSTEM outlines the construction of the building’s envelope or skin. We discuss traditional earthship building blocks like tire, glass, and can walls, as well as alternative systems like adobe, cob, rammed earth, earthbags, wood block concrete forms, timber frame, log, cordwood, and strawbale buildings. We also cover various roofing options as well as doors and windows.
Chapter 8 ROOMS, SPACES, COLORS, & TEXTURES discusses how we can create a home we love.
Chapter 9 MECHANICAL SYSTEMS outlines basic mechanical, electrical, and plumbing considerations, especially on-grid systems since those are what make an Earthship most affordable.
Chapter 10 IMBUING SPACE WITH SPIRIT - “The WooWoo Chapter” addresses psychological and spiritual aspects of design and covers topics including psychology of space and color, locating power spots, astrologically-correct timing, and Feng Shui and Vaastu.
Chapter 11 CONCLUSION: A NEW SET OF EARTH-SHELTER BUILDING CRITERIA
Chapter 12 OVERWHELMED? NEED HELP? discusses some helpful tips if you hire an architect or residential designer .
The APPENDICES offer resources and worksheets.
Portions of the proceeds will go to our non-profit architectural education programs ARCHITECTURE FOR EVERYBODY and BUILT FOR LIFE.
Contributors include: Debra Bailey, Carrie Christopher, Michael Curry, Richard Flatau, Sigi Koko, Shannon Colvin Matteson, Chiara Riccardi, Maggie Schlarb, Steve Scott, Craig Schreiber, Asha Stout, & Pratik Zaveri

Share on Google+

Save this on Delicious

About Rachel Preston Prinz

Rachel Preston Prinz is an architecturally-trained American designer, preservationist, documentary filmmaker, and artist working in sustainability and architectural engagement. She graduated with a Masters of Architecture and Certificate in Preservation from Texas A&M in 1998. After working in traditional architectural firms for more than 10 years, Rachel started Archinia in 2007 so that she could live her dream of promoting the craft of architecture and the Genius Loci, or Spirit of Place, especially pertaining to U.S. Southern, Mountain, and Southwest indigenous, vernacular, and modern design.
Rachel has served as a preservation commissioner in Taos, as the host of the UNM-Taos Sustainability Institute, and as co-host of TEDxABQWomen. She has won the Echoing Green Work on Purpose challenge and has been named a Green Guardian. Rachel has given multiple TEDx and Pecha Kucha talks on modern applications of vernacular design and critical regionalism, landscape preservation, pattern languages, and photography and Epicureanism. She has given more than 40 presentations, tours, and lectures and written nearly 70 articles integrating archaeology, architecture, place, culture, and emerging trends in sustainability.
Rachel's work has been featured on HGTV’s “You Live in WHAT?”, NMPBS’ “Colores!”, “Home made” on Canadian PBS, and she’s been a featured guest on radio and television, including CBS Radio Women’s Media Center live with Robin Morgan, Women’s Focus, New Mexico PBS, PBS, CBS, Good Morning Vail, and KUNM. An emerging leader in the field of sustainability, Rachel’s been written about in Prime Your Mind For Confidence; Bermuda Quest; The Girls Guide To Swagger; and Accessing Intuition: Stories from Architects and Designers.

First 20% Sample:

I Love My Life by AJ Adaire

Betrayal by her former lover sends Chris Baxter fleeing to Maine. A chance pairing with Stephanie Kincaid offers an opportunity for new friendship and sailing adventures. An urgent message sends Chris rushing to her twin's hospital bed. Will the revelations from her ex, her sister, and her family, change everything in the new life that Chris has rebuilt?

Betrayal by her former lover sends Chris Baxter fleeing to Maine. She enrolls in a sailing class to escape the monotony of staring at the four walls of her isolated cabin. A chance pairing with Stephanie Kincaid and her cohorts, Tina and Terry, offers an opportunity for new friendship. A homework assignment offers Chris the potential for more than just knowledge of navigation. An urgent message interrupts the classmate’s sailing vacation along the coast of Maine. Chris rushes back to her twin’s bedside while the others remain onboard to sail back to their homeport. Will the revelations from her ex, her sister, and her family, change everything in the new life that Chris has rebuilt?

Share on Google+

Save this on Delicious

About AJ Adaire

Let me tell you a little about myself. Twenty years ago, I wrote my first book just to see if I could do it. The novel occupied space on my bookshelf, unread for nearly twenty years until one day, while in a cleaning frenzy, I considered disposing of the neatly stacked but now age-yellowed pages. As I began to read the long forgotten work, I was surprised to discover that the story was enjoyable! Editing and retyping the first book provided a new sense of accomplishment and additional tales followed. Completion of This is Fitting encouraged me to write four more romance novels. I Love My Life and Sunset Island were followed by Awaiting My Assignment and its sequel, Anything Your Heart Desires. One Day Longer Than Forever is now complete, and It’s Complicated is in the hands of first readers before the first big edit.

Now retired, there is all the time in the world to write. I live on the east coast with my partner of twenty-eight years. Because we love a challenge, we provide a loving home for two spoiled cats instead of a dog. In addition to writing, any spare time is devoted to reading, mastering new computer programs, and socializing with friends.

First 25% Sample:

The MIM eBook: How you find the best Master in Management by Thomas Graf

>> Saturday, April 18, 2015

What's the best way to find an MBA, a Master in Management, a Master in Finance, Marketing or others? This ebook is a must-read for students seeking a Masters Degree, be it in Management, Business Administration, or other specialized business function.

MBA programs, Masters in Management, Masters in Finance or any other business area are expensive. Often times it remains unclear if they are worth the investment. How can you find out in advance whether a programm will satisfy or frustrate you?

This ebook is a must-read for students seeking a Masters Degree, be it in Management, Business Administration, or other specialized business function. It guides the reader through the key steps that should be taken before a program is chosen and provides useful background information based on the author's longterm experience.

Thomas Graf worked for McKinsey and founded the MIM Compass, MBA Compass, and DBA Compass and conducts the annual Global MIM Survey. He has already helped hundreds of graduates and professionals to find the Masters Degree that best matches their goals.

Share on Google+

Save this on Delicious

About Thomas Graf

Thomas Graf worked for McKinsey & Company, holds an Executive MBA from IE Business School and, has founded the platforms MIM Compass, MBA Compass, and DBA Compass.

Thomas Graf has more than ten years of experience in management education. As a regular contributor on the topic of Masters in Business on several educational platforms and coordinator of the annual Global Masters in Management Survey, he regularly advises students and professionals on selecting their Masters Degree.

This book encapsulates Thomas Graf’s extensive experience in the field and transforms it into a structured guideline for graduates and professionals searching for the best postgraduate education in management that suits their personal needs.

Axira Episode Two by Odette C. Bell

It’s been several months since the Hendra incident. Academy life has returned to normal.

Normal won’t last. A new group is forming on campus. Isolationists and racists, they start targeting anyone who doesn’t ‘fit’. Which includes Axira.

That isn’t her only problem. There’s a visiting scientist researching subspace fields. One she recognises – a foot soldier of her master.

Axira must put a stop to the Academy’s problems before they spiral out of control.

But she can’t do it alone. She’ll need his help. And Jason Singh is more than willing to do anything for her …

Share on Google+

Save this on Delicious

About Odette C. Bell

I live in Australia with two giant, fluffy cats. I try to write whenever I can, reasoning that eating and sleeping are luxuries that can be ignored.

First 20% Sample:

Skykeep by Joseph R. Lallo

Several months have passed since Nita Graus left her home in Caldera to soar with the crew of the Wind Breaker, and life is anything but easy. Their prior exploits have earned them quite a reputation among surface-dwellers and made them a perpetual target of the manipulative residents of the fug. Now a new plot could split the crew and ground the Wind Breaker once and for all.

It has taken some adjustment, but Nita Graus has made quite a home for herself among the crew of the Wind Breaker. Under her skillful care it has become one of the only airships to stay aloft without the continuous repair and oversight of the vile and manipulative fug folk. Word of her adventures with Captain Mack, Gunner, Lil, Cooper, and Wink has made the whole crew into living legends among the residents of the mountain towns of Rim, but in doing so it has also made finding safe harbor virtually impossible. Agents of the fug folk and those working on their behalf hide in every cloud and skulk in every shadow.

Only one town, a place called Lock, is willing to welcome the Wind Breaker into port. Most of the townspeople have already been shunned by the Fug Folk, and as such have little to lose in aiding and abetting the crew. Captain Mack, mindful of his advancing age and the risks he's had to request of his crew time and time again, has begun to plan for his retirement. Plans are swiftly derailed when the fug folk hatch a plan of their own, splitting the crew and locking Nita away in the floating prison known as Skykeep.

Skykeep is the second book in the Free-Wrench saga and continues to chronicle the adventures of Nita and her new crew as they continue to clash with the twisted figures who control the destiny of a continent.

Share on Google+

Save this on Delicious

About Joseph R. Lallo

Joseph Lallo is a Computer Engineer, as well as editor and chief contributor to Brainlazy.com.

First 50% Sample:

Allergies and Food Addictions – NO MORE by Dr. Eleonore Blaurock-Busch PhD

>> Friday, April 17, 2015

A Self-Help Book for Allergy Sufferers, and all those who want to feel better, physically and psychologically.

This book explains food allergies and how you can alleviate or get rid of your problems. About 1-5% of the total population has food allergies; more than 120 foods are recognized to cause them. This book lists the foods that most commonly cause reactions on a worldwide basis, namely: milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts followed by cereals (mainly wheat), soybeans, fish, and shellfish. It also explains why some foods temporarily cause problems, and others may turn out to be problematic for you throughout life. The book tells you how to identify temporary food sensitivities and genetically-based food allergies.

More often, people with pollen allergy experience allergic symptoms when they eat certain fruits, vegetables or nuts. The author explains why cross-reactions occur and how you can alleviate hay fever symptoms through sensible eating and living. Food addictions are part of the food allergy complex, and you will learn how to manage it all. You will be rewarded by feeling better physically and emotionally.

The book describes how you can reduce food reactions by improving digestive functions. It also explains why some nutritional supplementation can help to reduce allergy suffering. Most of all, the book teaches how to plan a sensible and tasty diet through proper food rotation. Food groups are listed with a diet plan and tasty menus. You will learn why a temporary avoidance of specific foods changes your allergy symptoms into a manageable and temporary problem. Symptoms will disappear, one after the other. With a little discipline in preparing daily menus, you will eventually be able to eat most, if not all foods - without suffering from allergies symptoms. Try it.

Share on Google+

Save this on Delicious

About Dr. Eleonore Blaurock-Busch PhD

E.Blaurock-Busch PhD is research director of Micro Trace Minerals Analytical Laboratory Germany and Trace Mineral International Laboratory of Boulder, Colorado and was Assistant Laboratory Director at King James Medical Laboratory, Cleveland, OH. Her specialty is metal toxicology and human nutrition.

She is a founding member and co-chairman of the International Association of Trace Element Research and Cancer, and organizer of the first East-West World Congress on Trace Element and Cancer, held in Beijing, China in 1996. As scientific advisor to the International Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology (IBCMT) she lectured worldwide at medical meetings and universities. As scientific advisor to the German Medical Association for Clinical Metal Toxicology (Deutsche Ärztegesellschaft für Klinische Metalltoxilogie – KMT), she continues to be involved in teaching toxicology to German physicians.

She is instrumental in environmental and laboratory research projects in metal toxicology, including epidemiological studies that evaluated the toxic burden of people of various countries, including India and Saudi Arabia. In 2005, she received the IBCMT (International Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology) Award for Outstanding Service.

She was a guest speaker at radio and TV shows in the US, Germany and elsewhere.

She published several books in German and English at reputable publishers including Prentice Hall (later Simon and Schuster) and Hugendubel. Her many articles were published in various languages in medical and lay journals around the world.

She is a member of the European Academy for Environmental Medicine and the British Society for Ecological Medicine. She continues independent studies at Exeter College, Oxford University, UK.

First 12% Sample:

After Fanny's Fall by Nolan Dean Smith

An unconventional mystery filled with humor and sprinkled with history. (St. Paul--1949): A boozing ex-pilot turned private eye, a baseball obsessed street cop, a tight-lipped newsstand proprietor, and a dandified police detective--as well as the downtown establishments, plus a group of quirky characters--all play a part in the investigation of a likeable prostitute's suicide...or...murder.

Prologue: The following article appeared in the morning edition of the St. Paul Mirror on April 1, 1949: A woman was found dead on the sidewalk in front of the Traveler's Hotel in downtown St. Paul on March 21, 1949. She was discovered by an employee at about 8:50 a.m. According to police at the scene, she had fallen from one of the hotel's third floor apartment windows...

Share on Google+

Save this on Delicious

First 15% Sample:

Speed up my Brain

Linkbar

Hacking the Earthship: In Search of an Earth-Shelter that Works for EveryBody by Rachel Preston Prinz