Solar Home Heating Basics: A Green Energy Guide

Solar Home Heating Basics: A Green Energy Guide Review

As fossil fuel supplies dwindle, home heating will be one of the major challenges in temperate and cold climates in upcoming years. The reserves of natural gas used to heat the majority of North American buildings are rapidly being depleted. This latest Green Energy Guide helps readers who want to slash their energy bills and reduce their dependence on scarce resources to navigate the sometimes confusing maze of clean, reliable, and affordable options.

Solar Home Heating Basics focuses on renewable energy strategies to heat new and existing homes and small businesses. These include:

• Energy efficiency, weatherization, and insulation
• Solar hot air heating
• Solar thermal systems
• Passive solar heating
• Backup heating systems

While most solar home heating resources are geared primarily towards new buildings, this practical guide addresses ways of retrofitting existing buildings, making solar a reality for many people.

Packed with all the essential information home and small business owners need to find alternatives to conventional heating solutions, Solar Home Heating Basics is your key to a personal energy solution.

Dan Chiras is a respected educator and the author of thirty books on residential renewable energy and green building, including The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy and Power from the Sun. Dan is the director and lead instructor at the Evergreen Institute's Center for Renewable Energy and Green Building, where he teaches workshops on energy efficiency, solar electricity, solar hot water, small wind energy, green building, natural plasters, and natural building.

Losing Edison: Beautiful, Sustainable Lighting at Home

Losing Edison: Beautiful, Sustainable Lighting at Home Review

With all of the confusion and media hype surrounding the phasing out of the incandescent light bulb, it's easy to understand why home owners are frustrated. Losing Edison is a simple introduction to residential lighting design that begins with the incandescent phase out, and then guides the reader through the basic principles of good lighting at home.

Ultimately, the aim of this book is to give homeowners the basic knowledge and common language they need to engage interior designers, lighting designers, architects and contractors in a learned discussion about lighting.

So whether you're about to renovate your kitchen or just want to know what light bulbs to buy, Losing Edison has something for everyone that wants to live in more beautiful, sustainable light.

Here's what Apartment Therapy had to say:

"The book is filled with easy to understand, useful information including the most recent information on incandescent regulations. Bedell explains which types of incandescents are being phased out, when this will happen and why.

And while the book includes some technical information, it is not just for those interested in the science of the bulb. The book is organized so that the most practical and applicable information about bulb types and lighting design is easy to find and to understand. Sustainability tips are peppered in along the way in this book which aims to help "boost our collective effort to reduce energy and resource consumption."

Handmade Houses: A Century of Earth-Friendly Home Design

Handmade Houses: A Century of Earth-Friendly Home Design Review

Showcasing one hundred years of innovation and environmental sensitivity, Handmade Houses celebrates some of the world’s most idiosyncratic homes from Big Sur to Sardinia. Author Richard Olsen  unveils the components used for their construction, including driftwood, boulders, and even old wine vats.

The first study of the handmade-homes phenomenon since its inception in the late 1960s, Handmade Houses revisits the subject’s roots and history, exploring how these homes and their owners paved the way for the architectural-salvage business and the reclaimed, industrial look ever-popular today. As fascinating as the structures are themselves, their owners—professionals and amateurs who personally designed and built each residence—offer their inspirations and stories behind the convention-defying homes. Design lessons are gleaned from each home—some examples of environmentally aware construction with applicable tips for use in more mainstream scenarios. Handmade Houses is an important and relevant volume to be appreciated by anyone interested in environmentally friendly design, craft, and the expression of personal style in the home.  

Homebrew Wind Power

Homebrew Wind Power Review

A Hands-on Guide to Harnessing the Wind

Have you ever wondered how wind turbines work and why they look like they do? Are you interested in adding wind power to your off-grid electric system, but have been put off by the high cost of equipment and installation? Well, now you can build and install your own wind turbine!

Harnessing the wind can be a tricky business, but in this groundbreaking book the authors provide step-by-step, illustrated instructions for building a wind generator in a home workshop. Even if you don't plan on building your own turbine, this book is packed with valuable information for anyone considering wind energy. It covers the basic physics of how the energy in moving air is turned into electricity, and most importantly, will give you a realistic idea of what wind energy can do for you--and what it can't.

Full-scale, actual size blueprints for the 10-foot diameter wind turbine featured in this book are also available from Amazon to help you along in the construction process. Search Amazon books for "Homebrew Wind Power Blueprints" by Tyrone Banderet!

The Complete Guide to Green Building & Remodeling Your Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply (Back-To-Basics) (Back to Basics: Building)

The Complete Guide to Green Building & Remodeling Your Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply (Back-To-Basics) (Back to Basics: Building) Review

In today s economy and socially conscious environment regarding the environment, many people cannot afford not to start considering ways they can build or remodel their home to ensure it is green. With scientific sources such as the UN council on global warming making statements about the degradation of ice flow and environmental conditions by 2050 and the likelihood that crude oil sources will be used up within the next fifty years, it is especially necessary for young families to consider the implications of reexamining their homes and living situations to be more green. This book will guide you and your family through the process of learning more about and implementing the necessary changes and perspectives needed to change your home or build a new home that is environmentally conscious and prepared for the changing economic and environmental climate in the coming decades. You will learn why people have started to build green and how it can be done in today s regulatory and cost conditions quickly and inexpensively. You will learn how to remodel with green in mind and how to start working with building professionals that can provide the necessary materials, plans, and paperwork you need to proceed. You will learn which materials are best for green building by lifespan and how to choose between various green materials. You will learn how to not only use green materials but to make sure the construction process is green as well. You will learn the basics of framing your building, natural building methods, the energy systems you might use, and the heating cooling options at your disposal. Construction and environmental experts have been interviewed and their expertise is included in this book to help you learn everything you need to accomplish the above as well as to know what kinds of water and waste systems are best, how to site plan and landscape your home, and what the most common myths about green building are. You will learn ten things you can do on any building project to keep it green and any materials you should always have on hand for anything you do around the house. Regardless of whether you are just looking to remodel to make your house greener or are building a new home, this book will give you everything you need to stay green and respect the environment with your home.

The Natural Building Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Integrative Design and Construction--Instructional DVD Included

The Natural Building Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Integrative Design and Construction--Instructional DVD Included Review

A State-of-the-Art Resource for Natural Builders that is a part of The Yestermorrow Design/Build Library and includes an instructional DVD

Natural buildings not only bring satisfaction to their makers and joy to their occupants, they also leave the gentlest footprint on the environment. In this complete reference to natural building philosophy, design, and technique, Jacob Deva Racusin and Ace McArleton walk builders through planning and construction, offering step-by-step instructions on:

• siting and site analysis
• choosing materials
• integrating basic structural considerations into a design
• strategies for heating/cooling efficiency and moisture management
• planning for acoustics
• developing an integrative design
• navigating budgeting, code compliance, and project management
• creating the foundation, wall system, roof, and floors
• selecting and making plasters and paints
• evaluating options for mechanical and utility systems
• protecting against fire and insects
• integrating structures within landscape, climate, and human communities

...and more

Applicable to building in climates that are cold and wet, hot and dry, or somewhere in-between, The Natural Building Companion provides the tools necessary to understand basic principles of building science, including structural and thermal engineering, and hydrodynamics. This guide offers thorough, up-to-date, and advanced installation details and performance characteristics of straw-bale, straw-clay, woodchip-clay, and cellulose wall systems, as well as earthen and stone wall systems and a variety of framing, roofing, flooring, mechanical system, and finishing options. This fully-illustrated volume informs professionals making the transition from conventional building, homeowners embarking on their own construction, or green builders who want comprehensive guidance on natural-building options.

Joey Green's Kitchen Magic: 1,882 Quick Cooking Tricks, Cleaning Hints, and Kitchen Remedies Using Your Favorite Brand-Name Products

Joey Green's Kitchen Magic: 1,882 Quick Cooking Tricks, Cleaning Hints, and Kitchen Remedies Using Your Favorite Brand-Name Products Review

From the guru of brand-new uses for brand-name products come ideas and tips for culinary fun, cleaning shortcuts, and kitchen cabinet remedies

Joey Green has fascinated readers for more than a decade with his quirky and innovative tips to make domestic engineering a lot more fun. Now fans will be completely intrigued and entertained by Joey’s kitchen- and pantry-focused ideas, like using Canada Dry Club Soda to buff stainless steel appliances and flexible fabric Band-Aids as labels for frozen foods.

Filled with time- and money-saving ideas, Joey Green’s Kitchen Magic offers clever ways to make household items do double duty, like using ReaLemon for revitalizing wilted asparagus, L’eggs Panty Hose (clean, of course) for removing corn silk, and Oral-B Dental Floss for slicing layer cake. He shares unusual ideas for kitchen troubles, like stirring in Jif Peanut Butter to save burnt gravy and using Efferdent to clean the coffeepot. Joey even tosses in home remedies from the kitchen (soothe a blister with Carnation Nonfat Dry Milk) and simple recipes (try Slow-Cooker Brisket with a Coca-Cola marinade).

Whether it’s a quick fix (Eggo Waffles for hot dog buns, anyone?) or an emergency substitution (Bounty Paper Towel for a coffee filter), there are loads of useful and entertaining tips for making the most of brand-name purchases.

The Natural Building Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Integrative Design and Construction

The Natural Building Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Integrative Design and Construction Review

A State-of-the-Art Resource for Natural Builders

Natural buildings not only bring satisfaction to their makers and joy to their occupants, they also leave the gentlest footprint on the environment. In this complete reference to natural building philosophy, design, and technique, Jacob Deva Racusin and Ace McArleton walk builders through planning and construction, offering step-by-step instructions on:

• siting and site analysis
• choosing materials
• integrating basic structural considerations into a design
• strategies for heating/cooling efficiency and moisture management
• planning for acoustics
• developing an integrative design
• navigating budgeting, code compliance, and project management
• creating the foundation, wall system, roof, and floors
• selecting and making plasters and paints
• evaluating options for mechanical and utility systems
• protecting against fire and insects
• integrating structures within landscape, climate, and human communities

...and more

Applicable to building in climates that are cold and wet, hot and dry, or somewhere in-between, The Natural Building Companion provides the tools necessary to understand basic principles of building science, including structural and thermal engineering, and hydrodynamics. This guide offers thorough, up-to-date, and advanced installation details and performance characteristics of straw-bale, straw-clay, woodchip-clay, and cellulose wall systems, as well as earthen and stone wall systems and a variety of framing, roofing, flooring, mechanical system, and finishing options. This fully-illustrated volume informs professionals making the transition from conventional building, homeowners embarking on their own construction, or green builders who want comprehensive guidance on natural-building options.

The book, part of the The Yestermorrow Design/Build Library, is accompanied by an instructional DVD.

Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies

Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies Review

Want to build responsibly, reduce waste, and help preserve the environment? Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies is your friendly, step-by-step guide to every facet of this Earth-friendly method of construction. Building a home—even a green home—uses plenty of resources and energy. This practical, hands-on book shows you how to build or remodel conscientiously, whether your dream home is a simple remodel or a brand-new multimillion-dollar mansion.

You’ll start by identifying green materials and sizing up potential systems and construction sites. You’ll weigh the pros and cons of popular green building methods and identify opportunities for saving money in the long run. Need to find some green professionals to assist you in your venture? We’ll help you do that, too. This book will also help you discover how to:

• Understand the lifecycle of building materials
• Choose the right system for your green building project
• Put together a green team
• Work within your budget
• Use green building methods and sustainable systems
• Speed construction and reduce energy use and waste
• Refinish old fixtures and materials
• Beware of asbestos and lead-paint hazards
• Avoid costly mistakes

Complete with lists of ten green things to do on every project and ten things you can do right now in your home in order to go green, Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies is your one-stop guide to planning and building the home you’ve always wanted.

The Straw Bale House (A Real Goods Independent Living Book)

The Straw Bale House (A Real Goods Independent Living Book) Review

Imagine building a house with superior seismic stability, fire resistance, and thermal insulation, using an annually renewable resource, for half the cost of a comparable conventional home. Welcome to the straw bale house! Whether you build an entire house or something more modest-a home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottage-plastered straw bale construction is an exceptionally durable and inexpensive option. What's more, it's fun, because the technique is easy to learn and easy to do yourself. And the resulting living spaces are unusually quiet and comfortable.

The Straw Bale House describes the many benefits of building with straw bales:

• super insulation, with R-values as high as R-50
• good indoor air quality and noise reduction
• a speedy construction process
• construction costs as low as -per-square-foot
• use of natural and abundant renewable resources
• a better solution than burning agricultural waste straw, which creates tons of air pollutants

Practically Green

Practically Green Review

Simple steps for sustainable living

Creating a green and healthy home might seem like an overwhelming task at times. Practically Green takes the practical approach to mindful living: Start small and go from there. Auth

The Carbon-Free Home: 36 Remodeling Projects to Help Kick the Fossil-Fuel Habit

The Carbon-Free Home: 36 Remodeling Projects to Help Kick the Fossil-Fuel Habit Review

You've read the stories and watched the documentaries. So you're convinced--burning fossil fuels leads to global climate change; supplies of fossil fuels are diminishing in quantity and increasing in price. You've fretted and worried, but still go through your day consuming some quantity of non-renewable fossil fuels to accomplish nearly every task (and you may not even realize it). You want to do something besides worry but you are unsure where to begin.

Read this book--then grab your handsaw, tape measure, and drill, and get started! A life powered by the sun is waiting for you. Meant as a guide for renovating existing homes, this book gives you the hands-on knowledge necessary to kick the fossil fuel habit, with projects small and large listed by skill, time, cost, and energy saved. For every aspect of your life currently powered by fossil fuels, we offer alternatives you can accomplish yourself to get started using renewable and sustainable sources of power.

Inspired by their own determination to wean themselves completely from fossil fuels, Rebekah and Stephen Hren provide a map for others interested in the path to producing all their own energy and living a fossil fuel-free life. It shows first how to reduce energy consumption as much as possible, then how to retrofit an existing home in order to obtain all heating and cooling, all cooking and refrigeration, and all hot water and electricity from renewable sources. The Hrens also provide advice on renewable methods of transportation and home gardening, as poor choices about food and mobility often negate hard-won gains in the home. Like many today, the Hrens felt they had a moral obligation to mitigate humankind's contribution to the ravages of pollution, including global warming as a result of fossil fuel addiction. In this book, the Hrens offer practical approaches that fit into anyone's budget, and can be done over time as a way to wean oneself from fossil fuel dependency.

Wind Energy Basics: A Guide to Small and Micro Wind Systems

Wind Energy Basics: A Guide to Small and Micro Wind Systems Review

Wind Energy Basics is an excellent introduction to wind power for educational programs concerned with state-of-the-art renewable energy options, and will be indispensable for those considering today's generation of quiet, efficient, and reliable "micro" wind turbines.

In addition to Chelsea Green's Wind Power for Home & Business, Paul Gipe is the author of the landmark Wind Energy Comes of Age, which was selected by the American Library Association as one of the outstanding academic books of 1995. In 1998, the World Renewable Energy Conference hailed him as a "pioneer in renewable energy, " awarding Gipe one of the organization's highest honors for his two decades of writing and lecturing about wind energy. Gipe lives in Bakersfield, California.

The Straw Bale House (Real Goods Independent Living Book)

The Straw Bale House (Real Goods Independent Living Book) Review

Imagine building a house with superior seismic stability, fire resistance, and thermal insulation, using an annually renewable resource, for half the cost of a comparable conventional home. Welcome to the straw bale house! Whether you build an entire house or something more modest-a home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottage-plastered straw bale construction is an exceptionally durable and inexpensive option. What's more, it's fun, because the technique is easy to learn and easy to do yourself. And the resulting living spaces are unusually quiet and comfortable.

The Straw Bale House describes the many benefits of building with straw bales:

• super insulation, with R-values as high as R-50
• good indoor air quality and noise reduction
• a speedy construction process
• construction costs as low as -per-square-foot
• use of natural and abundant renewable resources
• a better solution than burning agricultural waste straw, which creates tons of air pollutants

Passive Solar House: The Complete Guide to Heating and Cooling Your Home

Passive Solar House: The Complete Guide to Heating and Cooling Your Home Review

Revised and Expanded Edition-Includes CD-ROM with Custom Design Software

For the past ten years The Passive Solar House has offered proven techniques for building homes that heat and cool themselves, using readily available materials and methods familiar to all building contractors and many do-it-yourself homeowners.

True to this innovative, straightforward approach, the new edition of this best-selling guide includes CSOL passive solar design software, making it easier than ever to heat your home with the power of the sun. Since The Passive Solar House was first published, passive solar construction expert James Kachadorian has perfected user-friendly, Windows-compatible software to supplement the design process explained in the book by allowing homeowners/designers to enter the specifications of their design and see how changing a variable will affect its energy efficiency.

This is the building book for a world of climbing energy costs. Applicable to diverse regions, climates, budgets, and styles of architecture, Kachadorian's techniques translate the essentials of timeless solar design into practical wisdom for today's solar builders. Profiles of successful passive solar design, construction, and retrofit projects from readers of the first edition provide inspiration to first-time homebuilders and renovators alike.

Picture Yourself Going Green: Step-by-Step Instruction for Living a Budget-Conscious, Earth-Friendly Lifestyle in Eight Weeks or Less (Environmental Issues)

Picture Yourself Going Green: Step-by-Step Instruction for Living a Budget-Conscious, Earth-Friendly Lifestyle in Eight Weeks or Less (Environmental Issues) Review

Are you looking for simple, budget-friendly ways to help you and your family live a healthier, more planet-friendly lifestyle? Picture Yourself Going Green: Step-by-Step Instruction for Living a Budget-Conscious, Earth-Friendly Lifestyle in Eight Weeks or Less provides you with uncomplicated solutions to help you conserve, reduce, reuse, recycle, and, thus, minimize our impact on the planet. You'll discover that even small changes make a difference and that going green is good for our health, the planet, and even our budgets. This book starts off with ten quick and simple changes that will green your lifestyle immediately; you can then follow an eight-week plan that will green everything from your energy use, transportation, and food choices to your wardrobe, beauty supplies, and travel. As you work through the suggestions and changes in the book, you'll find that simple efforts like turning off lights that aren't in use, carpooling to work, notching the thermostat down one degree, and taking a shorter shower can be beneficial to your family and the planet. Featuring simple instructions and a colorful layout full of pictures and illustrations, Picture Yourself Going Green is packed with helpful eco facts, tips, and ideas to help you along in your journey to become green.

Joey Green's Kitchen Magic

Joey Green's Kitchen Magic Review

From the guru of brand-new uses for brand-name products come ideas and tips for culinary fun, cleaning shortcuts, and kitchen cabinet remedies

Joey Green has fascinated readers for more than a decade with his quirky and innovative tips to make domestic engineering a lot more fun. Now fans will be completely intrigued and entertained by Joey’s kitchen- and pantry-focused ideas, like using Canada Dry Club Soda to buff stainless steel appliances and flexible fabric Band-Aids as labels for frozen foods.

Filled with time- and money-saving ideas, Joey Green’s Kitchen Magic offers clever ways to make household items do double duty, like using ReaLemon for revitalizing wilted asparagus, L’eggs Panty Hose (clean, of course) for removing corn silk, and Oral-B Dental Floss for slicing layer cake. He shares unusual ideas for kitchen troubles, like stirring in Jif Peanut Butter to save burnt gravy and using Efferdent to clean the coffeepot. Joey even tosses in home remedies from the kitchen (soothe a blister with Carnation Nonfat Dry Milk) and simple recipes (try Slow-Cooker Brisket with a Coca-Cola marinade).

Whether it’s a quick fix (Eggo Waffles for hot dog buns, anyone?) or an emergency substitution (Bounty Paper Towel for a coffee filter), there are loads of useful and entertaining tips for making the most of brand-name purchases.