National Network for Equitable Library Service

What book would you want if you were stranded on a desert island' Widely regarded as the "bible" of off-grid living, Real Goods Solar Living Source Book might be your best choice. With over six hundred thousand copies in print worldwide, it is the most comprehensive resource available for anyone interested in lessening their environmental footprint or increasing their energy independence.

According to conventional wisdom, building a green home is an expensive endeavor. The standard approach treats green as an add-on, tacking "premium" products, finishes, and equipment onto a traditional home design. As a result, many green home projects end up over budget or fail to achieve their environmental and performance goals. Green Home Building explodes the myth that green homes have to cost more.

An EcoNest is not just a home-it is a breathtakingly beautiful structure that nurtures health and embraces ecology. This unique approach to construction combines light clay straw, timber framing, earthen floors, natural plasters, and other natural techniques with the principles of Building Biology to create a handcrafted living sanctuary. By bringing together time-honored traditions and modern innovations, owners of EcoNests enjoy living spaces that reflect the best of both worlds.

For most of human history, people have lived in durable, comfortable buildings made from natural materials such as soil, sand, rocks, and fiber. All over the globe, these ancient traditions persist; a quarter to a third of the world's population today lives in houses built partially or entirely of earth. Conventional Western building techniques using industrial materials may save time and create efficiencies, but these perceived savings come at considerable financial and environmental cost.

The popularity of natural building has grown by leaps and bounds, spurred by a grassroots desire for housing that is healthy, affordable, and environmentally responsible. While there are many books available on specific methods such as straw-bale construction, cob, or timber framing, there are few resources which introduce the reader to the entire scope of this burgeoning field. Fully revised and updated, The Art of Natural Building is the complete and user-friendly introduction to natural building for everyone from the do-it-yourselfer to architects and designers.

In contemporary Western society, urban development is regarded as an unfortunate blight from which nature provides a much-needed respite. This apparent dichotomy ignores the interdependence between human settlement and the natural world. In fact, one of the most pressing problems facing urban theorists today is determining how to resolve the tension between the built and natural environments, in the process creating truly sustainable cities.

Increasing the energy efficiency of your home can save you money, help the environment, and enhance your comfort, but how do you decide which improvements are the most beneficial and cost-effective' Completely revised to incorporate the latest developments in green technology, The Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings is the definitive resource for consumers who want to better their home's performance while reducing their energy bills.

Much has been written about the individual components of sustainable building, but how do you bring it all together into a well-designed whole' Drawing on extensive hands-on experience, Making Better Buildings systematically describes the real-world implications of the most popular green and natural building materials and techniques, objectively presenting the pros, cons and overall viability of each. An indispensable resource.

Housing is a fundamental human right. For most of human history, our homes were built by hand from whatever local materials were available. However, since the Industrial Revolution, most housing has become little more than quickly constructed, mass-produced, uniform boxes. At the same time, the invention and standardization of the thirty-year mortgage and our ever-increasing reliance on credit has come to mean that most of us never own our homes outright. Housing Reclaimed is a call to arms for nonconventional home builders.

Zero energy homes produce at least as much energy as they consume through a combination of energy efficiencies, passive design, and renewable energy production. California has adopted zero net energy as the new residential standard for 2020; many other governments are considering similar policies. Developing zero energy homes is the first step towards making all buildings zero energy-a critical step in mitigating climate change, since buildings account for forty percent of material and energy use worldwide.