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Choose Green Systems that Conserve Resources While Matching Your Budget and Lifestyle
A vital conservation and money-saving tool, Greening Your Home provides helpful information that will help you select sustainable green options that match your specific needs for every system in your house. This "one-stop" guide provides the latest information on systems and materials that conserve resources for a cleaner, more energy-efficient home.
You will learn how to incorporate sustainability into your house in beautiful, cost-effective and environmentally reponsible ways. Both inspirational and practical, Greening Your Home features:
- A wealth of green building and remodeling options for homeowners.
- Photographs and information on green products and systems and their advantages.
Your Complete Guide to a Green, Energy-Efficient Home
Material Options: • Structural Insulated Panels • Low-VOC Paints • Replacement Windows • Green Certified Doors • Glass Block • Fly Ash Concrete • Bamboo and Cork Flooring • Plastic Plumbing Pipe • Red Cedar Siding • Recycled Insulation
Recent Technology: • Power Consumption Monitors • Timers and Motion Sensors • Low-Flow Plumbing Fixtures • On-demand Water Heaters • Radiant In-floor Heating • Heat and Energy Recovery Ventilators • Whole-house Fans • Spray Foam Insulation • Induction Cooktops • Horizontal Axis Washers/Dryers
Green Practices: • Reducing Your Carbon Footprint • Green Power • Saving Money Twice • Community-Supported Agriculture • Growing Your Own Food • Composting Biodegradables • Using Graywater • Making Your Own Cleaning Products • Reusing Containers • Xeriscaping
From the Preface
For years, environmentally sound practices were associated with a counterculture. Resource conservation, energy independence, and so on were perceived as the rejection of mainstream values. Recently, though, more people have realized that they reflect the American characteristics of innovation and individualism. Green living is no longer a social expression of political ideas, but an economic expression of personal ones.
The thirty subjects covered in this book range from non-traditional materials to advanced technologies to age-old practices. Some are better suited for new construction, others for remodeling. Most can be adopted or adapted no matter where you live. What they all have in common is that they make better ecological sense than the materials and methods they replace.
Most of us take several factors into account when we decide how to build or remodel the places we live. Quality and cost are the most obvious, along with comfort, appearance, durability, and other things that can be harder to define. All the products and practices described in this book can help you improve your standard of living, and exercise greater self-reliance, now and in the future.
Table of Contents
Preface. Part 1: Material Changes. Chapter 1: Environmental Impact. Chapter 2: Health Impact. Chapter 3: Availability. Chapter 4: Maintenance. Chapter 5: Durability. Chapter 6: Sustainability. Chapter 7: Renewability. Chapter 8: Recyclability. Chapter 9: Simplicity. Chapter 10: Efficiency. Part II: Technology Changes. Chapter 11: Electrical 1. Chapter 12: Electrical 2. Chapter 13: Plumbing 1. Chapter 14: Plumbing 2. Chapter 15: Heating. Chapter 16: Ventilating. Chapter 17: Air Conditioning. Chapter 18: Insulating. Chapter 19: Cooking. Chapter 20: Washing. Part III: Lifestyle Changes. Chapter 21: Personal Choices. Chapter 22: Energy Sources. Chapter 23: Financial Incentives. Chapter 24: Cooperative Buying. Chapter 25: Agricultural Independence. Chapter 26: Eliminating Waste. Chapter 27: Reducing Waste. Chapter 28: Washing Up. Chapter 29: Second Chances. Chapter 30: Getting Outside. Index. |
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