Energy Efficient Design Books

Green from the Ground Up: Sustainable, Healthy, and Energy-Efficient Home Construction (Builder's Guide)

David Johnston, Scott Gibson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A thorough, informative, and up-to-date reference on green, sustainable and energy-efficient home construction that clarifies definitions of green and sustainable and guides builders and architects through the process of new or remodel green construction, including issues of site, landscaping, durability, and energy-efficiency. It starts with clear explanations of the concepts and fundamentals of green, healthy and energy-efficient construction and walks the reader through the entire construction process, injecting expert advice at every decision point. Construction techniques, materials, and products are thoroughly explained, making the often vaguely understood concepts cleanly understandable. The book gives builders and architects the tools to respond to growing requests from homeowners for green and energy-efficient houses, whether new or remodeled. Homeowners can use the book to understand the concepts, process, and options, whether they're doing it themselves or working with a professional.

Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies (For Dummies (Home & Garden))

Eric Corey Freed

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Home Design -> Remodeling & Renovation -> Energy Efficiency

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Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial 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 Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling

Daniel D. Chiras

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Chelsea Green Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $15.70

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Passive solar heating and passive cooling—approaches known as natural conditioning—provide comfort throughout the year by reducing, or eliminating, the need for fossil fuel. Yet while heat from sunlight and ventilation from breezes is free for the taking, few modern architects or builders really understand the principles involved.

Now Dan Chiras, author of the popular book "The Natural House," brings those principles up to date for a new generation of solar enthusiasts.

In "The Solar House," Chiras sets the record straight on the vast potential for passive heating and cooling. Acknowledging the good intentions of misguided solar designers in the past, he highlights certain egregious erros and shows how to avoid them. More importantly, Chiras explains in methodical detail how today’s home builders can succeed with solar designs.

Readers will learn:
- How to select a cost-effective, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly backup heating system.
- how to preserve indoor air quality in an airtight, energy-efficient home.
- ways of employing green building materials in a naturally conditioned home.

Smart Homes For Dummies (For Dummies (Home & Garden))

Danny Briere, Pat Hurley

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Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Do you long to listen to your favorite CD from anywhere in your house? To set up a wireless network so you can access the Internet in any room? To install an iron-clad security system? To fire up the coffee pot while you’re still asleep and wake up with automated lighting? Smart home technology can help you do just that!

Smart Homes For Dummies, Third Edition, shows you how easy it can be to create and live in a cutting-edge, fully connected home—without breaking your bank account. With this user-friendly guide, you’ll discover all the latest trends and gadgets in home networking, automation, and control that will help you make life more enjoyable and comfortable for your entire family. We help you plan for things such as flat-screen TVs, intercom systems, whole-home audio systems, gaming consoles, and satellite systems. We talk about your wiring (and wireless) options and introduce you to the latest technologies, such as VoIP and Bluetooth. You’ll see how to:

• Build your home network on a budget
• Turn your home into an entertainment center
• Access the Internet from any room
• Get VoIP on your phone network
• Boost in-home wireless and cell phone signals
• Connect your computer to your TV
• Secure your home and property
• Increase your home’s resale value
• Avoid common networking pitfalls
• And much, much more

Complete with a resource list for more information and neat toys of the future, Smart Homes For Dummies is your plain-English, twenty-first century guide to a fully wired home!

Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism

Bryan Bell, Katie Wakeford, Steve Badanes, Roberta Feldman, Sergio Palleroni, Katie Swenson, Thomas Fisher

Amazon Price: $23.07 List Price: $34.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Metropolis Books Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $21.88

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Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecology -> Living on the Land -> General AAS
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Architecture -> Criticism

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Expanding Architecture presents a new generation of creative design carried out in the service of the greater public and the greater good. Questioning how design can improve daily lives, editors Bryan Bell and Katie Wakeford map an emerging geography of architectural activism--or "public-interest architecture"--that might function akin to public-interest law or medicine by expanding architecture's all too often elite client base. With 30 essays by practicing architects and designers, urban and community planners, historians, landscape architects, environmental designers and members of other fields, this volume presents recent work from around the world that illustrates the ways in which design can address issues of social justice, allow individuals and communities to plan and improve their own lives and serve a much larger percentage of the population than it has in the past. This new inclusionary practice must define new services and new processes, and these are illuminated in the generously illustrated texts as well.
Building on the momentum of Bell's Good Deeds, Good Design and other recent landmark publications such as Rural Studio and Design Like You Give a Damn, Expanding Architecture examines evolving notions of socially conscious practice and serves as a guide for designers who are willing to take on the social, economic and environmental challenges we face today.
Bryan Bell is the Executive Director of the Raleigh, North Carolina-based Design Corps, which he founded in 1991 to provide community service through architecture. His other initiatives include the Design Corps Fellowship program, the Design Corps Summer Studio and the Structures for Inclusion annual conference. In 2007 he received a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects.
Katie Wakeford received her M.Arch from North Carolina State University School of Architecture, where she became interested in community design. She began working with Design Corps in 2002, and currently serves as an intern architect with the North Carolina State College of Design's Home Environments Design Initiative, a research and community outreach endeavor focused on affordable and sustainable housing.

Building Green: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods Earth Plaster * Straw Bale * Cordwood * Cob * Living Roofs

Clarke Snell, Tim Callahan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Clarke Snell and Timothy L. Callahan, whose popular Good House Book helped environmentally-minded readers create an earth-friendly home, have returned with a photo-packed, amazingly complete, start-to-finish guide to "green" housebuilding.

This absolutely groundbreaking manual doesn't just talk about eco-friendly building techniques, but actually shows every step! More than 1,200 close-up photographs, along with in-depth descriptions, follow the real construction of an alternative house from site selection to the addition of final-touch interior details. Co-authors Clarke Snell and Timothy Callahan (a professional builder and contractor) provide thorough discussions of the fundamental concepts of construction, substitutes for conventional approaches, and planning a home that's not only comfortable and beautiful, but environmentally responsible. Then, they roll up their sleeves and get to work assembling a guest house that incorporates four different alternative building methods: straw bale, cob, cordwood, and modified stick frame. The images show every move: how the site is cleared, the basic structure put together, the cob wall sculpted, the bales and cordwood stacked, a living roof created, and more. Most important, the manual conveys real-world challenges and processes, and offers dozens of sidebars with invaluable advice. It's head and shoulders above all others in the field.

The New Ecological Home: A Complete Guide to Green Building Options (Chelsea Green Guides for Homeowners)

Dan Chiras

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An Excellent Overview of Green Building...Superb! 5 out of 5 stars.
104 of 108 people found this review helpful.

Author Dan Chiras has produced a series of amazing books on green building, including The Natural House, The Solar House, Superbia!, and The Natural Plaster Book. His books are extremely well written, well organized, comprehensive, and extremely well illustrated. He's truly one of the best, if not the best, writer in the green building field.

The New Ecological Home is no exception. In fact, I think it is one of the best books he has written. Although the cover is pretty drab, the book is a beauty inside. The book is engaging, easy to read, and full of interesting and helpful information that will assist those who want to explore the many options for building homes that are good for people, the planet, and the economy. This book should be read by all who are considering building a new home as well as those who are thinking about remodeling their homes. It is also a valuable resource for architects, builders, and students of architecture. Adding to its value, this book has a detailed resource guide that adds considerably to its value.

Editorial Review:

An overview of green home-building techniques, materials, products, and technologies, written for home buyers, builders, architects, and contractors and intended to help avoid common problems when building green. It discusses the principles of green building and why they are desirable; covers logistical aspects of building such as site selection, i

2006 International Energy Conservation Code - Softcover Version (International Energy Conservation Code (Paper))

International Code Council

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Review of Intl. Energy Conservation Code 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book was in excellent condition, and was very helpful in a professional exam that I had to take.

Editorial Review:

The 2006 International Energy Conservation Code encourages energy conservation through efficiency in envelope design, mechanical systems, lighting systems and the use of new materials and techniques.

LEED NC Practice Problems: New Construction

Meghan Peot, Brennan Schumacher

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Editorial Review:

This product was previously titled LEED-NC Solved Problems: New Construction.

Knowing how to apply the LEED-NC (New Construction) 2.2 Rating System to the design and construction process is the key to passing the LEED-NC exam. Learning these skills in a review class is difficult, but LEED NC Practice Problems: New Construction gives you the preparation you need. Over 140 problems, based on four original project scenarios, assess your ability to correctly apply the technical points of the LEED-NC Rating System to design and construction projects while improving your problem-solving skills.

Covers version 2.2 of the LEED for New Construction exam.

Improve your LEED-NC exam performance Detailed solutions, in essay format, explain how to correctly apply the LEED-NC Rating System to a project Thorough examples of the design and construction process, and credit synergies and trade-offs help to prepare you for the exam Increase your problem-solving speed and confidence Discover Rating System categories, and Credit Intents and Requirements that require extra review

Coverage of all 6 LEED-NC Rating System categories Energy and Atmosphere Indoor Environmental Quality Innovation and Design Process Materials and Resources Sustainable Sites Water Efficiency

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC®) did not participate in the development and/or publication of LEED NC Practice Problems: New Construction, and does not participate in the development or administration of the LEED exam review course. The USGBC is not affiliated with PPI. LEED and USGBC are registered trademarks of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Sun, Wind & Light: Architectural Design Strategies, 2nd Edition

G. Z. Brown, Mark DeKay

Amazon Price: $66.13 List Price: $75.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $45.99

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Interior Design -> Decoration & Ornament
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Architecture -> Drawing & Modelling -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Integrated Review of Two Top Books That Mesh Well 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Although I normally read books in twos and threes on the same topic to gain varied perspectives, this is the first time I am writing a single review encompassing two books. They mesh together so well that I cannot imagine studying this subject without having BOTH in hand.

The two books are Sun, Wind & Light: Architectural Design Strategies, 2nd Edition and The HOK Guidebook to Sustainable Design.

Start with the introduction in the Guidebook, which is blessed with a Foreword from Paul Hawken and see especially page 13 where the cost benefits are shown, with 48% energy savings for Gold, 30% for Silver, and 28% for Certified. See also the illustration on page 15 that I have reproduced in the image I am loading for both books: the old decision model was Cost at the top, with Schedule and Quality anchoring the triangle. the new decision model still has cost at the top, but Schedule and Human Health, Safety, & Comfort are on corners of this new pentagon, and the bottom is achored by Quality and Ecology, or what Paul Hawken would call in his books, "true cost" to the Earth and Humanitas.

NOW shift to the Contents and the Detailed Contents of Sun, Wind, & Light. As one reviewer notes, this is a course book. I did not recognize it as such, I saw it as one of the most gifted complete collection of factors to learn and apply that I have ever seen for ANY topic of study. The content and organization of this book is nothing short of Nobel-level "wow." Finish going through this book.

NOW go back to the first 218 pages of the Handbook, and study the checklists and varied helpful boxes and explanations. The rest of the book (217-459) is case studies of specific buildings, each a few pages, that can be left for last.

At this point, I went into the Glossaries and Bibliographies of both books. Each is distinct, neither supplants the other. They must be taken together. I read Glossaries, and Indices, as content, and use them as a form of "second look" (in extremely complex books, this is actually where I start).

NOW go back to the Case Studies in the Handbook, and read each from the point of view of what "take away" lessons are there for your own building.

Reading these two books was a real treat. Outside my office kitchen is a deck with an 11 point system for attracting birds from bluebirds and bluejays to cardinals, gold finches, two kinds of woodpecker, and a flicker as well as the more common birds. I believe in diversity, and I believe that if we don't get our act together and start living up to the ideals of Natural Capitalism (see other recommended books below), our world will go sterile and dark before out great-grandchilden can share in the beauty of this planet. These two books are part of the solution, and I am in serious awe of those who made them available to all of us, and at reasonable prices to boot. Well done!!!

Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
The Ecology of Commerce
Ecological Economics: Principles And Applications
For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future
The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy
Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons (Bk Currents)
The Philosophy of Sustainable Design

Editorial Review:

Architecture/Environment
How to design buildings that heat with the sun, cool with the wind, light with the sky, and move into the future using on-site renewable resources
Developed for rapid use during schematic design, this book clarifies relationships between form and energy and gives designers tools for designing sustainably. It also:
* Applies the latest passive energy and lighting design research
* Organizes information by architectural elements at three scales:
* building groups, individual buildings, and building parts
* Brings design strategies to life with examples and practical design tools
* Features:
* 109 analysis techniques and design strategies
* More than 750 illustrations, sizing graphs, and tables
* Both inch-pound and metric units