Oram Miller, BBEI has co-written a new building manual, entitled "Breathing Walls," in conjunction with and based upon the work of George Swanson, BBEI, builder and Building Biologist^TM of Austin, Texas. George and Oram have been joined by Wayne Federer of Wisconsin as editor and contributor. Wayne is a chemist who has taken traning in Building Biology and brings a research orientation to the manual.

The book covers nontoxic envelope materials and includes protocols for the design and construction of healthy walls, foundations, slabs and roofs in new and remodeled homes. These protocols are used by George and other builders around the country. Their work, in turn, is based upon principles taught by the International Institute for Bau-biologie^TM and Ecology, in Clearwater, Florida.

We present natural, non-toxic, breathable (hygroscopic) alternatives to the approaches currently used by builders. We show you the problems with water intrusion and mold caused by today's building practices. We then present time-honored procotols promoted by our profession for building cost-effective, sustainable and healthy new and remodeled homes.

These alternative approaches avoid mold and provide mass in the walls with good thermal performance. They augment and enhance sustainable, green approaches promoted by the US Green Building Council's LEED for Homes program and such regional green building programs as Minnesota GreenStar.

Architects, designers, builders and homeowners will learn how to blend the best of ancient building practices with non-toxic modern techniques to provide high performance homes and offices using best practices, while enhancing human health.

We have released a pre-publication version of the manual, in both spiral bound and ebook format. The ebook is available either as a pdf download or as a CD-ROM. Updates will be available throught the ebook.

You can order them through a new website, www.breathingwalls.com.

To preview the manual, you can view a working draft of the Table of Contents here.

To see Comments from Readers of a previous edition of the manual, self-published in 2004, click here.