Introduction: why, where, how and when to use this book

What is an eco-home? What do you need to know to create one?

What is an eco-home? If you more or less know, and more or less know how to create one, you don't need to read this book. Or perhaps you do. There may be things you haven't thought about, or aspects of things that you haven't considered in depth or didn't know. Some might even be vital issues for how your house performs and lasts, and how it is to live in – and how long you live.

Everybody more or less knows what an eco-home is, but as there's no official definition, nobody actually knows. Is it necessarily a house? Can it be a caravan, yurt or even a high-rise apartment? Is it a zero-carbon – or, better, a carbon-negative – house? (Glossary entries are indicated at their first occurrence.) Would that include a wholly uninsulated house connected to a photovoltaic farm? Or is it a house so nature-friendly that it's full of wasps, rats and (suspiciously ominous) mushrooms? Or should it be so zero-impact that living in it means dressing for outdoor temperatures? Everybody knows it doesn't mean those sorts of things.

It's safer, therefore, to focus on what everybody more or less knows: that it's something to do with supporting ecological stability.

What is ecological stability, though? Climate stability is an absolutely essential part of this, but only a part. Preserving or recycling key resources (e.g. water, nutrients, perhaps manufacturing feedstocks) is comparably important, although this hasn't yet reached a tipping-point crisis. So is the maintenance of a self-regulating ecology. This is mostly about reducing pollution, preserving biodiversity and, indirectly but crucially, food security. Common to all these, however, is living in harmony with nature. But can we do this if we live in town? As most of us do, for life to survive on our planet, this is absolutely essential: living in harmony with nature doesn't mean living in nature.

Historically, however, the eco-architecture movement didn't start very harmoniously. There were those who focused on minimising energy use. Hermetically sealed buildings with tiny windows appealed to them. Others were principally concerned with occupant health. They liked air-permeable buildings, lots of fresh air and solely natural materials. Others again sought hi-tech solutions to everything. Some focused on autonomous houses and self-sufficient lifestyles; others, on social issues – even to the point of collectivism. And everybody thought 'ecology' meant they couldn't use their favourite materials or do anything artistic. Nobody ever considered the risk of dying from heatstroke, at least not in Britain: at that time, heat retention (for resource preservation) seemed the issue, not cooling (for survival). Climate change wasn't a concern; oil depletion (and related price rise) was. Also, although some thought meditation could transcend ecological disaster as this is 'merely' material, nobody discussed the spiritual dimension of sustainability.

Fortunately, those days are behind us – but their echoes still remain. Few seem to realise that harmony with nature means embracing and synthesising all of this. If we omit the material concerns, things don't work. If we omit the aesthetic, we only serve the material side of nature and humanity. The climate crisis demonstrates this. If material solutions don't work, human – and probably all – life won't last. But if concentration on practical aspects ignores soul and spirit issues, life won't be worth living – and (according to statistics) is likely to be shorter.

Does this make what "everybody more or less knows" unduly complicated? It shouldn't. It just means that there are many more issues than energy conservation to attend to. In this book, I therefore first address the 'why' behind eco-home design: the overarching 'mother issue'. Then follow 'where', 'how' and 'what' issues: the specifics. Further, to actually build or convert your home I also discuss the 'when' and 'who' issues: achieving its delivery.

How to find what you need in this book

This book is divided into six parts. These cover the reasons – and their design implications – for wanting to live in an eco-home; how to decide where it should be and remedy the shortcomings of your chosen location; how, in performance and constructional terms, to design a new eco-home or eco-upgrade an existing building; the things it affects and the energy it needs; how to do it; and how to get started and avoid mistakes.

WHY ISSUES helps you to identify the particular benefits you're aiming for. These are much more varied than most people, looking through their individualised lenses, suppose. They range from monetary to spiritual, personal to global. We may want them all, but different people have different priorities. This affects design.

WHERE ISSUES covers microclimatic, social, connective and space-use matters, and how these affect site planning. These also have much greater significance and scope for action than is generally supposed. 'Where' also applies to eco-renovation, but in a different way: you need to be able to evaluate problems that existing buildings have. All old buildings have some, but how easy are they to remedy? This is critical to your decision about what building to buy and eco-convert.

HOW ISSUES introduces you to how to get your home to do all those things you need it to: keep you warm, dry, cool, healthy and safe. Whether you're building an entirely new eco-home or renovating a less-than-satisfactory old building, the basic physical and design principles are the same. Consequently, although chapters on old buildings deal with specific renovation issues and associated constraints, pitfalls and solutions, the bulk of every chapter is relevant for both. As there's a huge variety of building types, construction and ages, and of climatic circumstances, this is the largest section of the book.

WHAT ISSUES covers hidden environmental impacts; recycling of water, waste and nutrients; and generating...