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Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Books
How to Solar Power Your Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply
Now more than ever, the question of economic and environmentally friendly energy sources has become a hot topic in almost every American home. With that in mind, more and more people are turning to alternatives such as solar power as a means of saving money and reducing their imprint on the environment. This nearly carbon neutral method comes with hefty tax rebates from the federal government and in states like California and New Jersey massive rebates from the state. More states are considering similar rebates and with a 3 to 8 year energy savings possible according to a recent report by the New York Times, it is an ideal solution for anyone looking to save money in the long term and help the planet immediately. This book will guide anyone interested in the process of installing and utilizing solar power for their home in the process of searching for, buying, or building their own solar power system. Learn how solar power and other alternative energy sources can help to save the world regardless of the cost and how you can start surveying your own energy use and efficiency. Learn how you can start making basic adjustments to become more efficient and how solar power can help you before you start any major projects. Learn what solar power requires, from cost and equipment to maintenance and preparation in certain times of the year. Learn how solar power works and how to start evaluating the potential of it for your building needs. Take the cost of installing solar power and learn how long it will take to make money back on your investment, including information on federal and state rebates that might affect you. Multiple individuals who have successfully installed solar power in their homes have been interviewed and their experiences included in this guide to help you learn what others go through and how they came out. Learn how the installation process works and how it can be done in your landscape, in small projects, for heating and purifying water, swimming pool heating, and other smaller projects. Learn about how individuals construct solar power systems on their own to save money and what is involved in a full PV system. Finally, learn how the market for green homes has made it possible to extract a huge return on investment from building or remodeling a home with solar power. For anyone who has ever considered solar power as a viable means to save money and the environment, this guide will help you get started right away.
Your Green Home: A Guide to Planning a Healthy, Environmentally Friendly New Home
More and more homeowners today want houses that are healthy to live in and cause minimal damage to the environment. That's what green building is all about. "Your Green Home" is written for homeowners planning a new home-whether you are working with an architect or builder, or serving as your own general contractor. Intended to improve the overall environmental performance of new houses being built, the book sets out to answer some of the big-picture questions relating to having a home designed and built-and getting what you want. "Your Green Home" covers: Home location and its relationship to the community Site design Construction systems Building design to optimize energy performance Renewable energy systems Material selection Indoor environmental quality Water efficiency Material selection Written by the founder of BuildingGreen-North America's premier green building authority-this book will prove useful not only to future homeowners, but also to designers and builders seeking to meet this demand. Building professionals well-versed in green building may find this a useful book to give to potential clients to convey the scope and principles of green building. Alex Wilson is president of BuildingGreen, Inc. and executive editor of "Environmental Building News," the oldest and most respected publication serving North America's green building industry. A green building expert since the 1970s, he has authored countless articles on the topic and several books, including "Green Building Products," the "Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings," and "Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate."
Spend-A-Little Save-A-Lot Home Improvements: Money-Saving Projects Anyone Can Do
Spend-A-Little, Save-A-Lot Home Improvements will help anyone save money by making their homes energy efficient and safe. Many of the projects have ?green? benefits that will help reduce energy consumption. Step-by-step photos and instructions will show homeowners how to complete home improvement projects. Whether prepping a house for sale, or upgrading a ?keeper?, the projects in this book will prove valuable, in a real sense.
Energy-Efficient Building
Although energy costs are near an all-time low, modern energy efficiency offers more than just savings: It offers comfort. With the help of this book, homeowners and builders can build lasting comfort into their homes -- and save money. This new addition to the best-selling Best of Fine Homebuilding series brings together 29 of the best articles from Fine Homebuilding magazine that cover topics from choosing ductwork and housewrap to building more efficient fireplaces and storm windows. The articles detail specific projects home-owners or builders can do to improve the energy efficiency of a traditional home. Over 200 photos and 50 color illustrations make concepts and product comparisons easy to understand, even for non-professionals. All of the articles are intended to solve common home energy problem: such as those associated with doors, skylights, water heaters, and heating systems. Energy-Efficient Building is an essential reference for homeowners and builders alike and invaluable to anyone building a new home.
Eco House Book
A complete guide to home improvement the environmentally friendly way: whether you want to redecorate or redesign your home, this essential book provides all the information you need to reduce your home's carbon footprint and improve the quality of your life. For 40 years, Terence Conran has been a leader in intelligent design, changing the way we think about and furnish our homes. No, Conran shows us that it is possible to convert our existing homes into greener, healthier places without starting from scratch. Whether you want to redecorate or resign your home, " Eco House Book" explains how relatively small and economic changes can be made, including simple repairs to improve energy efficiency, water saving tips, and productive gardening, to more dramatic overhauls such as redesigning room use, converting basements and extending your home. Environmental issues should be part of every decision you make on the home front--from selecting fabric for soft furnishings to designing and siting a home extension. Special focus is given to reducing the vast amounts of energy and water that homes consume on a daily basis, with advice on low energy lighting strategies and decorative choices, improving insulation and reducing energy use, the latest green heating systems, alternative ways of generating power, and electricity reducing appliances. As we are urged to change our lifestyles to reduce our carbon footprint and consumption of water, there has never been a better time to green your home.
Green Home Improvement: 65 Projects That Will: Cut Utility Bills, Protect Your Health, Help the Environment
In a tight economy, this book offers clear financial benefits: Helps homeowners immediately cut their utility bills. Fits with the trend toward smaller home improvements most of the projects require only a modest investment. Gives readers an edge when they sell their homes buyers are especially looking for energy-efficiency, but they're also tuned into green health and environmental concerns. The books projects range from quick, easy, low- or no-cost tasks like insulating a water heater, sealing foundation cracks, or painting with insulating paint to bigger-ticket items such as installing a new energy-efficient heating system, windows, or green flooring. For each project, readers will learn: the steps required; material and installation options; what the improvement will cost; payback in savings on utility bills; health, comfort, and environmental benefits. More than 65 Go Green tips highlighted throughout the book give readers ideas for quick, easy, and often low- or no-cost things they can do, right away, to make their homes and lifestyles greener. Projects include: Green flooring & paint options Environmentally friendly cabinetry & countertops Whole-house insulation & weather-stripping High-efficiency heating & cooling Water conservation Efficient lighting, appliances & plumbing fixtures including Energy Star and WaterSense models Solar electric and water heating systems Eco-friendly roofing & siding Energy-efficient windows, doors & skylights Green materials for patios, walkways & driveways Landscaping & irrigation for water conservation and energy.
The Complete Guide to a Green Home: The Good Citizen's Guide to Earth-Friendly Remodeling & Home Maintenance
Go Green & Gain Peace of Mind With this book, readers can sleep well knowing their remodeling and repair practices are protecting the environment and keeping their families healthy. This beautiful step-by-step guide features a host of practical projects and practices for green-thinking homeowners with a hands-on attitude. Offering a boost for the spirit, a refresher for the body and a balm for the planet, it is a comprehensive primer for eco-friendly home stewardship. "Black & Decker The Complete Guide to The Green Home" is the first home remodeling book to recognize both the broadening appeal of green practices and the fact that working within those guidelines can be done without extraordinary methods or premium prices. From kitchen remodeling to landscaping to installing lighting and flooring, there is hardly an aspect of modern homeownership that canoCOt be conducted with a preference for sustainable products, efficient energy use and reduced toxicity. Truly consumer-friendly, this new book presents a succession of manageable green projects shown with detailed photography and accompanied by sound instructions. Part of the industry-leading "Black & Decker The Complete Guide" line of books, "The Complete Guide to The Green Home" is a hardworking handbook for home remodeling and maintenance that improves our quality of life while remaining easy on the Earth.
Building with Awareness: The Construction of a Hybrid Home: DVD & Guidebook [With DVD]
Constructing a straw bale solar home requires the merging of solar design with alternative building techniques. Books are useful for accessing information on these topics quickly and easily, while videos are a great way to show actual building methods and techniques firsthand. The Building with Awareness DVD/guidebook combination brings you the best of both worlds. The award-winning DVD is inspiring and informative, with over five hours of material on every aspect of building a green home. The handy reference guidebook complements the DVD, with color photographs, diagrams, suggestions, and step-by-step methods, all condensed into a nuts-and-bolts format. Used together, these two valuable resources provide a visually dynamic and easy-to--understand library of information. Take a front-row seat on the work site, learning from the experts as they notch and stack the straw bales and mix the mud. Learn about foundations, post-and-beam wall framing, roof construction and insulation, interior thermal mass walls for improved efficiency, rain-water cisterns, electrical wiring, and photovoltaic systems. Learn earth-plastering techniques that create beautiful wall finishes. Understand how window placement and other structural elements can help to heat and cool your home and lower your energy bills. See how the structure works as a whole and how both energy efficiency and superb aesthetics can come from the same materials.
Living Green: The Missing Manual
Taking care of the earth is more important than ever, but the problems we're facing can seem overwhelming. "Living Green: The Missing Manual" helps make earth-friendly decisions more manageable by narrowing them down to a few simple choices. This all-in-one resource is packed with practical advice on ways you can help the environment by making simple changes in your home routine, work habits, and the way you shop and get around town. You don't have to embark on a radical new lifestyle to make a difference. "Living Green: The Missing Manual" shows you how small changes can have a big impact. With this book, you will: Learn how to make your home energy efficient and free of toxic chemicals Discover how to reduce waste, repurpose and recycle, and do more with less Build and remodel earth-friendly homes with new techniques and materials Learn tips for buying organic food and what it takes to grow your own Get helpful information on fuel-efficient cars, including hybrid and electric models Make your workplace greener and more cost-effective -- from changes at your desk to suggestions for company-wide policies Explore how to choose renewable energies, such as wind and solar power The book also provides you with ways to connect with like-minded people and offers a survey of exciting new green technologies. Learn how you can help the planet with "Living Green: The Missing Manual."
The Simply Solar House: Green Building on a Budget
"The Simply Solar House" is unique in its practical approach to designing a highly energy efficient house using common construction materials and practices. Drawing upon their experience building a solar house in central North Carolina, the authors describe the key features of energy efficient home design in simple and easy to understand language. This book is the perfect guide for cost conscious homebuilders who are inspired by the Green Revolution and passionate about preserving our environmental quality.
Energy-Wise Landscape Design: A New Approach for Your Home and Garden
Residential consumption represents nearly one quarter of North America's total energy use and the average homeowner spends thousands of dollars a year on power bills. To help alleviate this problem, "Energy-Wise Landscape Design" presents hundreds of practical ways everyone can save money, time, and effort while making their landscapes more environmentally healthy, ecologically rich, and energy efficient. Combining general guidelines with tips, techniques, and actions, this fully illustrated guide explains the many opportunities our landscapes provide for conserving energy. Readers will learn how to: Lower a home's heating and cooling costs Minimize fuel used in landscape construction, maintenance, and everyday use Choose landscape products and materials with lower embedded energy costs Make a positive difference without a major investment or change in lifestyle Intended for homeowners, gardeners, landscape professionals, and students, the design ideas in this book will work in every type of setting--large or small, hilly or flat, urban or rural. Written in non-scientific language with clear explanations and an easy conversational style, "Energy-Wise Landscape Design" is an essential resource for everyone who wants to shrink their energy footprint while enhancing their property and adding value to their home. Sue Reed is a registered landscape architect and a specialist in ecological landscape design who has helped hundreds of homeowners create comfortable, livable, and beautiful landscapes that save energy. She is also an experienced writer and teacher whose work specifically focuses on environmentally sound, energy-efficient, and sustainable landscape design.
Wind Energy Basics: A Guide to Small and Micro Wind Systems
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.
My Powerful Home
This book will truly guide you to make the best choices for home efficiency and renewable energy. An energy efficient home translates into a cost-effective approach when purchasing and installing your renewable energy systems.Our goal is to empower the homeowner to know where to start when venturing intorenewable energy for their home. It is written in easy to understand language on topics as new and complex as ground source heating and cooling, along with solar, wind, micro-hydro and emergency power systems.View illustrations and diagrams that bring out system details at a glance. You will feel likean expert when you are done reading this book.
The Energy-Smart House
Energy efficiency begins at home. Nobody knows this better than homeowners, remodelers, builders, and designers looking to cut back and save more. This is the place to start--"The Energy-Smart House" is a must-have for those concerned about rising home energy costs. Written by builders and energy experts from all over the country, the contributing authors are seasoned professionals whose articles have appeared in "Fine Homebuilding "magazine. Becoming "energy smart" is the goal, and this book details the methods, materials, and technology needed to achieve just that. Along with 200 photos and 50 illustrations, the insight shared from the pros will give readers the most up-to-date ways to keep costs down.
Easy Green Living: The Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for You and Your Home
We are what we eat, but we also are what we use to clean our homes, pamper our skin, and decorate our rooms, according to Renee Loux, accomplished raw food chef, award-winning author, and host of Fine Living TV'"s Easy Being Green." In her new book, " Easy Green Living," she applies her whole-foods philosophy to home, garden, and beauty routines.Renee Loux demonstrates that being green at home is easy, affordable, and better in every sense of the word. She discusses the daily choices we face that can keep the home, personal care, and beauty routines free of toxins. She exposes the dirt on cleaning products and common hazardous ingredients and reveals her recommendations for greener options, including her "Green Thumb Guides" for choosing non-toxic, eco-smart, and human-friendly products. Peppered with compelling and inspiring facts, "Easy Green Living" is full of "5 Step" lists, products and recipes for green cleaning, helpful charts, safer choices for every room, and inspirational advice so we can save the planet--one cleaning spritz at a time. As recent special issues of "Vanity Fair," "Time," "Newsweek," and other major publications have demonstrated, going green is an idea whose time has come. Whether addressing big-picture topics like renewable energy, or offering simple suggestions for everyday living, this complete lifestyle guide shows that healthier choices don't mean a radical or complicated life change--it is, after all, easy to be green.
The Home Energy Diet: How to Save Money by Making Your House Energy-Smart
With rising energy costs, homeowners are beginning to examine the energy efficiency of their own homes, asking questions about where energy comes from and how much it costs, how to choose new appliances and what options exist for renewable energy. "The Home Energy Diet" answers all these questions and more while helping readers take control of their personal energy use and costs so they can save money, live more comfortably and help the environment. Energy auditor Paul Scheckel first explores energy literacy, and then describes how your home uses-and "loses"-energy you pay for via: Electricity Hot water Heating and air conditioning Windows, walls and insulation "The Home Energy Diet" involves readers in learning about their own homes by: measuring, metering, investigating and considering habits related to household energy use; learning how to quantify energy consumption and cost and making informed decisions about cost-effective improvements and upgrades. The book explores the misunderstood concept of efficiency versus cost by comparing fuel costs and equipment choices, including the possibility of using renewable energy for meeting home energy needs. This authoritative guide makes efficiency fun through personal anecdotes and humorous "tales-from-the-basement" energy misadventures. Since energy efficiency is an investment that offers returns greater than Wall Street, readers can earn several hundred dollars "every year" just by following the advice in this book. As a bonus, many of the energy-saving strategies described can make for improved indoor air quality and healthier, more comfortable homes. Paul Scheckel is an energy auditor who has visited thousands of homes, educating people about energy efficiency, cost-effective improvements and indoor air quality. With a passion for efficiency and renewables, he walks the talk by living in a solar-powered house and driving a car powered by vegetable oil in his home state of Vermont.
Home Improvement for Dummies.
All home improvements don't require a contractor. Installing a smoke detector, painting a room, and unclogging a sink are all home improvements. In fact, doing the job yourself is often cheaper and always more rewarding. There's no mystery to home repair. The most important tool you need to make home repairs is know-how--to fix the problem at hand and to buy the other tools and hardware you'll need "Home Improvement For Dummies" is a whole-house repair manual for everyone from fledgling do-it-yourselfers to seasoned handymen and women. This anybody-can-do-it approach will help you with a repair that needs fixing right away or get you started on a project you've been planning. This book is for you if you need advice on these topics and more: Painting and decorating Carpentry Plumbing and electrical Outside repairs Building shelves Tiling Insulating Calculate how much a repair will cost you, and know when to hire a pro. With clear illustrations that walk you, step by step, through projects, "Home Improvement For Dummies" helps you: Refinish and stain wood Repair squeaky stairs Install floor tiles Improve your home's energy efficiency Maintain and upgrade plumbing Install an outdoor sprinkler system Install a ceiling fan Maintain central air conditioning and heating Whether you just have a few pesky projects you want to fix quickly or you want to become a home-improvement expert, this easy-to-follow guide gives you everything you will ever need to know. A helpful appendix is packed with online resources that let you network with other do-it-yourselfers.
The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy: Achieving Energy Independence Through Solar, Wind, Biomass and Hydropower
The coming energy crisis caused by a peak in global oil and natural gas production will profoundly affect the lives of all North Americans. As the price of these vital fuels rises, homeowners will scramble to cut their fuel bills. Two options for meeting the upcoming challenge are dramatic improvements in home energy efficiency and efforts to tap into clean, affordable, renewable energy resources to heat and cool homes, to provide hot water and electricity, and even to cook. These measures can result in huge savings and a level of energy independence. "The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy" tells you how. It starts by outlining the likely impacts of fossil fuel shortages and some basic facts about energy. It then discusses energy conservation to slash energy bills and prepare for renewable energy options. Focusing carefully on specific strategies needed to replace specific fuels, the book then examines each practical energy option available to homeowners: Solar hot water, cooking, and water purification Space heat: passive and active solar retrofits Wood heat Passive cooling Solar electricity Wind-generated electricity Electricity from microhydropower sources Emerging technologies-hydrogen, fuel cells, methane digesters, and biodiesel "The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy" gives readers sufficient knowledge to hire and communicate effectively with contractors and, for those wanting do installations themselves, it recommends more detailed manuals. With a complete resource listing, this well-illustrated and accessible guide is a perfect companion for illuminating the coming dark age. Dan Chiras has studied renewable energy and energy efficiency for three decades and has installed several renewable energy systems. He lives in a self-designed passive solar/solar electric home. An award-winning author of over 20 books, he is a sustainability design consultant who teaches courses on renewable energy, green building, and sustainability at Colorado College.
