The sustainable building association

AECB Home Page -

The AECB is a network of individuals and companies with a common aim of promoting sustainable building. It brings together builders, architects, designers, manufacturers, housing associations and local authorities, to develop, share and promote best practice in environmentally sustainable building. We pride ourselves on our independence, relevance and practicality.

Thoughts and feedback on passive solar related topics

Sustainable design, passive solar house HTM holistic housing consultation packages for the earthhome do-it-yourselfer.

You can be energy-free, free from mechanical climate control systems with a truly sustainable zero-energy home design. Our site is packed with plenty of free information, so please take the time to read this passive solar chapter and all of its detail pages (left click on any image). Learn why high thermal mass (HTM™) dry stack block, mortared concrete block, or poured-in-place concrete wall construction is a much better answer than super-insulated (high R value) air-tight construction for any climate. Conventional stick framing, log homes, strawbale, autoclaved aerated concrete and especially insulated concrete forms ("ICF's") are simply not feasible, passive solar, sustainable design materials because they don't effectively store and release energy. For truly sustainable passive solar construction, the building material of choice is high thermal mass.

Earthships around the world

Earthships are an interesting topic for those who want to keep building costs to a minimum and build the house themselves. Comfort doesnt have to be sacrificed as you can see here.

Michael Reynolds, the Garbage Warrior provides extensive information on all aspects of earthships:

• Thermal/Solar Heating & Cooling
• Solar & Wind Electricity
• Contained Sewage Treatment
• Building with Natural &
• Recycled Materials
• Water Harvesting
• Food Production

Additional information can be found on the websites below, all focused on earthship-related topics. Most of the sites provide extra information on the local requirements.

Eartships in Brighton (UK, South)
Earthship Fife Center (UK,North)
Earthship (Belgium)
Earthship (Spain)
Earthship Karuna (India)

Cheaper-Than-Silicon Solar Cell Materials

DailyTech - Scientists Find Nine Cheaper-Than-Silicon Solar Cell Materials

Iron pyrite is the top material picked by a University of California at Berkley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to replace silicon in solar cells. While modestly less efficient than crystalline silicon, its dramatic cheaper in processing costs and very abundant. Adopting it as a replacement to silicon or thin films could dramatically cut costs and enable enough production to supply the world's power needs, according to the team. (Source: Crystals Guide