Home Energy How-To Guide For A Green Home: A Consumer Guide On Moneysaving Home Ideas And Energy Saving Tips On How To Save Power, How To Save Water, ... Energy Efficient And Environment Friendly

Home Energy How-To Guide For A Green Home: A Consumer Guide On Moneysaving Home Ideas And Energy Saving Tips On How To Save Power, How To Save Water, ... Energy Efficient And Environment Friendly Review

Is your home energy efficient? Why bother with cost efficiency? It may come as a shock to most homeowners who give little significance to the benefits of energy efficiency that making the effort to go green can actually help them reduce up to 25% or more of the energy consumption in their home. In so doing, they save hundreds of dollars on their monthly expenses for water, gas and electricity. Making your home energy efficient is a costly process. However, doing just a few things can make a tremendous amount of difference in your home. There are some changes that will cost a decent amount of money to implement into a home. But in general, home energy savings does not have to be overly challenging and overly costly if there is proper planning. This book is a how-to guide for homeowners who need to make green home improvements so they can start their home energy savings campaign. The info here will help you examine if, in fact, energy savings is all worth it to you, your family and the environment you live in. Specifically, you will learn some of the following: • How to determine your current home energy costs • How to analyze costs over savings • How to get started with your biggest needs • How to make home improvement ideas that take minimal time to do but matter a great deal • What lifestyle habits you need to make for consistent home energy management • What your options are for alternative sources of fuel Throughout this book, you will learn plenty of ideas that you can implement right away to better your home’s ability to use energy more wisely so that you can start saving money on everyday needs and live in a more efficient and environmentally friendly home.

The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes

The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes Review

While enthusiasts of straw bales praise the exceptional energy efficiency of bale buildings, and the wise use of resources involved in utilizing an agricultural byproduct as an affordable construction material, the real reason straw bales have excited builders and homeowners nationwide goes beyond energy conservation, resource recycling, and affordability. People love straw bale homes because they are so often extraordinarily beautiful and inviting.

In the past two decades, the bale-building renaissance has attracted some of our most gifted architects, artisan builders, and craftspeople. Certain qualities of straw as a material--and the hands-on process of constructing walls with a completely natural substance--have appealed to both very experienced builders and those who find this to be a uniquely accessible form of creating shelter. The characteristic thick walls and wide windowsills of straw bale houses, the possibility of incorporating curves and even arches, and the rousing experience of family "wall-raisings" have become well-known. Combined with older styles of plastering and earthen floors, these very contemporary buildings have a timeless quality that's easy to recognize yet hard to achieve with conventional manufactured materials.

These are buildings with personality—plus!

Athena and Bill Steen, co-authors of the original Straw Bale House book published by Chelsea Green in 1994, have now created a book that celebrates in gorgeous color photographs the tactile, sensuous beauty of straw bale dwellings. Their selection of photos also demonstrates how far bale building has come in a very short period of time: In addition to handsome homes, small and not-so-small, this book shows larger-scale institutional buildings, including schools, office buildings, the Solar Living Center, and a Save the Children center in Mexico.

In addition, this book includes an introductory essay by the Steens noting the key lessons they have learned in years of building with bales: insights into the design and construction process, and critical advice about design elements that ameliorate the impacts of moisture, weather, and wear-and-tear over time. Each photograph is also accompanied by narrative text highlighting a given building's special features and personal touches.

Shades of Green: A guide to going green for the rest of us

Shades of Green: A guide to going green for the rest of us Review

What Shade of Green Are YOU?

Want to live a greener lifestyle but not sure where to start?

Today, it's not a matter of whether we want to be green-it's more about how green we can be and where we start.
Shades of Green is a practical guidebook that allows you to become green-at a pace and in a way that fits your lifestyle and individual starting point. The ideas in this book are reasonable, achievable and arranged in such a way that you can become greener when and how you want. Become your shade of green!

Learn about environmental problems and challenges we face today. Then learn solutions YOU can apply to those problems, personally, at home.

This book is by the different rooms in your home.

• How you can do to make your kitchen greener
• How to adopt greener laundry practices
• How and what to recycle in your home

But that's not all. Tips are arranged by degree of difficulty, starting with ideas anyone can do, all the way to tips for a totally committed green lifestyle.

Start today! Learn how to go to the next shade of green or merely catch up. There has never been a better time to get started! With Shades of Green as your guide, you'll make changes that matter-to you, to your family, to the future and to the planet.

It's time to go green-pick your shade.

The Resourceful Renovator: A Gallery of Ideas for Reusing Building Materials

The Resourceful Renovator: A Gallery of Ideas for Reusing Building Materials Review

Great ideas for using building elements from salvage shops and/or flea markets to add interest and architectural beauty to your home

The Self-Sufficient Home: Going Green and Saving Money

The Self-Sufficient Home: Going Green and Saving Money Review

This book shows how to cut heating and cooling costs, utilize solar energy, construct non-flush toilets and solar showers, collect rainwater, and apply permaculture techniques. Hundreds of photographs and diagrams illustrate ways to use natural resources and embrace self-reliance. From embracing solar energy and wind power to using fluorescent bulbs and growing backyard vegetable gardens, there are endless ways to live a more ecological and economical lifestyle. Sustainable living advice from self-reliance expert Christopher Nyerges, editor of "Wilderness Way" magazine.

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.

Eco-Renovation: The Ecological Home Improvement Guide (The Real Goods Independent Living Books)

Eco-Renovation: The Ecological Home Improvement Guide (The Real Goods Independent Living Books) Review

Eco-Renovation is the first book specifically aimed at homeowners who want to make their houses as "green" as possible. It will show the reader how to reduce energy bills and select resource-efficient building materials.