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| Left ISBN 978-0500343708 Right ISBN 978-0500021422 |
This is the author's second book about net-zero seekers and their homes. The first (with the same title, ISBN 9780500021422) was published in 2019 and showcased property around the world, this new book presents forty houses in North America, though it includes two in Hawaii. There is a perception that living off the grid might imply a very basic lifestyle but some of these homes are completely the opposite.
I was impressed with the author's selection from a simple, basic two-bed A-frame cabin in the Catskills, New York, a small studio architect James Cutler designed for his daughter, nestling on the edge of a wood and with a lovely view of Puget Sound, Washington, to a sumptuous looking modernistic courtyard property near Phoenix, Arizona, with a pool and huge sliding windows to let the outside in. Plenty of the houses are single level which helps them blend into the environment but there are two and three-level versions. Architects Mork-Ulnes designed a two-level house in Sonoma, California, constructed from cast concrete covered in wood because it is in a fire area, the wood could burn but not the framework of the building. Tom Kundig designed a three-level house near the sea in Costa Rica using locally sourced wood. It's surrounded by jungle and has twenty-two solar panels on the roof and underground tanks holding filtered rainwater.
Many of the homes are positioned in the landscape so the owners can enjoy the view of the surrounding countryside or sometimes a lake or the sea and ideally, the man-made world is totally absent.
Near the back of the book are nine pages with an Off-grid guide detailing the essentials for anyone who is considering getting away from it all. A ready supply of energy and water is clearly essential with solar providing lighting and power. Several houses used Tesla Powerwall batteries for storage. Tanks for rainwater or drilling a well solve the water issue.
For anyone who wants to go off the grid, the author's two books provide plenty of housing solutions and both have a list of the architects who designed these homes.
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