When the author was a boy growing up in Van Nuys, California, during the 1950s and 60s, he remembers waiting patiently by the curb so he could help his mother, who suffered from polio and was on crutches, get up on the sidewalk. The world they lived in back then certainly was not designed to meet her special needs, but a lot has changed since…

In the United States, 21% of all energy is used in residential buildings (40% of which is for heating and cooling homes). Promising improvements in residential building energy efficiency are underway such as the Building America Program and the Passive House Concept. The ability of improving energy efficiency in buildings is enhanced by building…

Schools and universities throughout the United States now appear to be embracing green roofs as one of many environmentally friendly initiatives. However, once a green roof is in place, school managers soon realize they are not the same as typical landscaping. Although they tend to be relatively low-maintenance, the location and highly specialized…

This paper discusses a variety of school safety and security measures that may be implemented at little or no cost and without the use of complex technology. Measures are presented according to these categories: (1) General; (2) Outside the Building; and (3) Inside the Building.

Stack design problems fall into two general caterories--(1) those of building re-entry, and (2) those of general area pollution. Extensive research has developed adequate information, available in the literature, to permit effective stack design. A major roadblock to effective design has been the strong belief by architects and engineers that high…

As library funding decreases, choosing to convert an unused building into a library is a beneficial alternative to building a new facility. Reuse saves money, building time, and gains greater community support. Offers advice on how to choose a location and what to look for in structure, mechanics, electrical resources; and discusses challenges in…

This manual, developed by the Agency for International Development and used by the Peace Corps, explains how to build homes made of earth. Information came from reports, books, and articles from many countries, coupled with research by soil engineers at Texas A & M University. It is presented in the most nontechnical format possible. The…

These eight units of instruction are the products of a project conducted at Burlington County College in Pemberton, New Jersey, to develop three-dimensional computer graphics units of instruction for use in courses designed to train students in the areas of architectural, civil, drafting and design, and electronics technology. Addressed in the…

This manual, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Point Four program, presents critical features and principles of using bamboo as a building material. Information provided in the manual includes the following: parts of a house for which bamboos are suitable, bamboo reinforcement of concrete, geographical distribution of…

This manual is designed to assist Peace Corps field workers who have little or no construction experience in helping communities or families to construct one-story buildings. Discussed in a chapter on basic planning and design are site and position; size, shape, and floor plan; and construction materials. The next chapter is a detailed examination…

Intended primarily but not solely for use at the postsecondary level, this curriculum guide contains five units on energy efficiency that were designed to be incorporated into an existing program in architectural drafting. The following topics are examined: energy conservation awareness (residential energy use and audit procedures); residential…

This guidebook focuses on the first of five steps included in a planning system for improving local secondary and postsecondary program and facilities accessibility: identifying barriers. The first five sections of the booklet are comprised of self-instructional descriptions of five needs-assessment procedures that can be used to identify…