Publisher's Synopsis
Hut-Topia is a place-name meaning hut for small house and utopia for ideal. You can build your own 'Hut-Topia' as inspired and wonderful as the small house that Thomas Jefferson built which founded his famous Monticello homestead!
Hut-Topia is a holistic DIY guide designed to help you on your path to creating a sustainable homestead and affordable dwelling. You'll find perspective from the history of small homes, building and zoning codes, on being a landowner, how rural living is different than urban, examples of off-grid dwellings, and much more:
Part 1 Right-Sized Towns: Explains how population influences townships and shows you how to locate and research a place that will work well for your plans.
Part 2 Owner-Built Shelter: Emphasizes livable space design and the planning steps to take before building, with examples of affordable construction methods.
Part 3 Off-Grid Power, Water, and Food: Expands the design and planning in Part 2 with dozens of off-grid methods and details you can use for your homestead.
Full contents:
Preface--Sustainability in Technology, Economy, and Climate
Introduction to Small House Architecture
1) Hut-Topia and Other Man-Made Words
2) The Rough History of Small Homes in the United States
3) Building and Zoning Codes
4) Landowner vs. Renter vs. Squatter
5) Rural vs. Urban
6) Homesteads
7) Huts-- --Transportable Huts --Built On-Site Huts --Wheeled Huts
8) Tents, Trailers, and RVs
Part 1: Right-Sized Towns
9) Mapping Your Region
10) Road-Trip Research
11) In-fills and Suburbia
12) Cottage and Cluster
13) Tent City
14) Intentional Community
Part 2: Owner-Built Shelter
15) The Nest Egg and the Plan-- --Budget Is the Bottom Line --What You Don't Know You Can Learn
16) How to Sketch the Details
17) Livable Space vs. the 'Box'-- --Inside or Outside Rooms --Single or Multiple Rooms and Floors --Built-Ins and Fold-Outs --Doors --Windows
18) Construction from the Ground Up-- --Step-By-Step Construction Timing
19) Foundation Basics
20) Post and Beam, Pole-Frame, and Timber-Frame
21) Masonry, Straw-Bale, and Cordwood
22) Log
23) Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) and Stick-Frame
24) Weather and Pest Proofing-- --Roofing and Siding --Wind --Humidity and Temperature --Pests
25) Interior Climate-- --Vapor Barrier --Conduction and Insulation --Convection Loops --Non-Toxic Radiation --Ventilation
26) Building Supplies-- --Recycled, Re-Purposed, and On-Site Materials --'Big-Box' Depot vs. Lumber Yards --Pre-Fabricated Materials and Kits --Fasteners and Adhesives --Material Delivery
Part 3: Off-Grid Power, Water, and Food
27) Happiness Is Good Resource Sizing
28) Energy Supply-- --Step-By-Step Off-Grid Energy
29) Measuring How Much Power You Need
30) On-Site Solar
31) Solar-Electric
32) Solar Space Heating
33) Solar Hot Water
34) Solar Cooking
35) Geothermal
36) On-Site Wind-Electric
37) On-Site Hydro-Electric and Cold-Sinks
38) Batteries, Chargers, and Inverters
39) Burning Appliances-- --Fossil Fuels --Wood
40) Engine Powered Electric Generators
41) Wood and Propane Stoves
42) Wood and Propane Space Heaters
43) Propane Hot Water Heaters
44) Oil and Gas Lamps
45) Water Supply-- --Springs, Wells, Streams, Lakes, and Ponds --Rainwater and Snowmelt
46) Water Storage and Purification
47) Sewage-- --Black Water --Grey Water
48) Compost and Trash
49) Food Supply
50) Crops
51) Livestock
52) Aquaculture
53) Cash-Crop or Trade
54) Urban Foraging
55) Wilderness Foraging
56) Food Processing-- --Fermentation --Canning --Dehydrating --Root Cellar
More Information
List of Illustrations
Index
