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Rating: 
Summary: A great synopsis of professional understanding
Review: As we may note upon reading this tome, it is written primarily for one who is articulate with the construction trade. However it is onomonopoetic in its scope. As you read you find yourself absorbing and understanding far more than seems possible. One gets it quickly and is allowed to dream of design possibilities. I love a good book. Learning at an exponential rate is exhilerating.
Rating:
Summary: A great synopsis of professional understanding
Review: As we may note upon reading this tome, it is written primarily for one who is articulate with the construction trade. However it is onomonopoetic in its scope. As you read you find yourself absorbing and understanding far more than seems possible. One gets it quickly and is allowed to dream of design possibilities. I love a good book. Learning at an exponential rate is exhilerating.
Rating: 
Summary: For Contractors
Review: I bought this book because I am thinking of building my own house. This book is geared toward contractors and not homeowner-builders.
Rating:
Summary: Just browsing CHS for myself
Review: Remember, this book is almost TEN years old because it is based on research done in 1993 and published in '95. So there have been advances and experience that go well beyond this book. Dwell magazine has often tickled me with various new building techniques and I wanted to learn more about what might be appropriate for me and the Midwestern climate. This book will give you an overview of SOME of the styles (mortarless, poured-in-place, etc.), and also indicate what might be appropriate for your situation. I'm not a builder or an architect but I wanted to design my own house, so this book did help me to recognize and comprehend the different catagories of techniques. At the same time, this topic could really use an update that you won't find from the Portland Cement Association. My advice to people like me is to keep looking and seek out small-scale builders who will familiarize you with their technique that they know best. There are dozens, and the most difficult thing is getting a crew that doesn't have to be trained for a new technique but has already completed several homes using a proven method.This book, even though it is somewhat old will give you a good sense of what to expect from building codes and prices, but it's just not enough, and there are no pretty pictures.
Rating: 
Summary: Ugly Duckling.
Review: This book is an Ugly Duckling for now. Hopefully in the future they will put out a new edition with lots of colour photo's to show us what a finished project can look like. It does seem to cover most systems for building concrete structures. It is written for contractors, but with a little work it could be just as well suited for the potential home owner.
Rating:
Summary: A *must read* for anyone interested in the latest in "CHS"!
Review: This book is writen for the tradesman, but is easy for a layman to understand. It covers the full range of concrete building products for residential wall systems. It provides extensive comparisons for each system, including relative cost, R-value, impact on other building components,and learning curve.
In particular,the Guide covers ICF (Insulating Concrete Forms), mortared and mortarless block, shotcrete, and proprietary systems such as the Hebel areated concrete blocks.
The authors interviewed hundreds of builders in the field and share design and installation tips as well as the relative advantages and disadvantages of each system.
Guide to Concrete Homebuilding Systems is a *must read* for anyone interested in the latest developments in concrete wall building systems.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a How to Book
Review: This is the first book I have ever returned to Amazon. I was looking for a book to tell me "How To". This book is more advertising than anything else.
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