April 1981 RAIN Page 15 BUILDING Diagnosing and Repairing House Structure Problems, by Edgar O. Seaquist, 1980,255 pp., $14.95 from: McGraw-Hill 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Houses are built from materials which are not impervious to time and weather, by people who are not immune to error. As a house ages, the wood dries and shrinks and possibly warps, the skin weathers and the foundation settles, leaving both visible and hidden flaws. Seaquist describes the parts of the house structure, how they are expected to work and the materials and construction techniques likely to be found in houses built in the last one hundred years. He discusses where to look for problems in foundations, foundation walls, exterior walls, interior walls, ceilings, floors and roofs. Some structural problems are easily repairable by the homeowner, some require a contractor, and some symptoms should be ignored or cosmetically patched. This book can help you learn what your house has been doing all these years, and at least give you guidelines for worrying. -Gail Katz II II ,I 'Mltd heaterl II ,I,I II Jl Air chamber From pump From How Buildings Work ACCESS ~ ~ II> .SO ~ ;:a c:Q ;s ! ~ Underground Plans Book -1, by Malcolm Wells and Sam Glenn-Wells, 1980, 44 pp., $13.00 ppd. from: Malcolm Wells Box 1149 Brewster, MA 02631 This volume, spreading out to 3' -7" in width, documents 8 earth-sheltered house projects adapted to widely differing site conditions in the North Temperate climate zone. Large-scale floor plans, sections, perspectives and descriptive notes are included for each of the houses. The emphasis throughout is: adapt these concepts to your particular site and needs. As such, it bridges the gap between design theory books and stock plan books. Especially useful is the way recurring technical details are keyed to all of the individual houses. Many of the specioc tips and insights alone are worth the cost of the book if you are planning to build into the earth. -Dave Deppen Dave is an architect in Portland . How Buildings Work: The Natural Order ofArchite.cture, by Edward Allen, 1980, 245 pp., $19.95 from: Oxford University Press 200 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10017 We live and work in buildings most of our lives, but we rarely think about how they fulfill our physiological and psychological needs. This book approaches design from a standpoint of what do we, as human beings, require and desire from an artificial environment and what are some of the ways to fulfill these needs and fantasies. Shelters were originally erected to keep out rain and cold. As they evolved, people came to expect buildings to provide water, sanitary facilities, heating and cooling, optical and acoustical privacy and a host of other services. Allen has broken down design on a need-by-need basis and produced a clear, literate, easy-to-read book that is a valuable reference to any designer or dreamer. -Gail Katz REGIONALISM Renewable Energy and Bioregions: A New Context for Public Policy, by Peter Berg & George Tukel, 1980, $.75 postage and handling Raise the Stakes!, Winter 1981 (Vol. 1, No.2), $2.00, both available from: Planet Drum Foundation P.O. Box 31251 San Francisco, CA 94131 Renewable Energy and Bioregions was prepared for the California Solar Business Office, It is not a report of policy recommendations, but a description of the conceptual framework from which a bioregional energy policy could emerge. Peter Berg and Planet Drum have done pioneering work with the concept of a bioregion:' a distinct area where the conditions that influence life are similar, and these in turn influence human occupancy." After discussing the various factors such as watershed tiers, solar income, and carrying capacity, that contribute to the derivation of bioregional energy policy, the authors illustrate some of the implications of a bioregional renewable energy scenario: "One aspect of public policy alone, the creation of watershed utilities that mediate between energy-generating households, the community power grid and the processes of natural systems, maintains a balance between decentralized activities and central planning that is a radical departure from the current operation of public and private utilities .. . . By planning energy-generating locations to complement local natural processes in the watershed, utilities can be directly involved with preserving natural communities and the watershed environment. " the Appendix, contributed by California Solar Business Office Director Jerry Yudelson, gives some specific energy policy implications of a bioregional energy strategy. If this kind of stuff interests you, then you'll really have fun with the second issue of Raise The Stakes! with its focus on "EcoDevelopment: Decolonizing Ourselves." Included are reports from the Black Hills, the North Coast area of California, Quebec, Brittany, and Samiland, among others. Especially good is Richard Merrill's article on agriculture and the prospects for a bioregional food system (reprinted elsewhere in this issue). - MR
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