Making Your Home Sustainable

Author: Derek F. Wrigley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780734309419
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
Sustainable ideas, using natural energies, to improve existing houses in a cool-temperate climate. In 1991, architect and solar consultant Derek Wrigley moved into a townhouse in Canberra and faced a new design challenge - how to retrofit an existing suburban house to use renewable energies rather than fossil fuels. Convinced that building design could do more to achieve sustainability, he developed a series of innovative devices to improve the energy efficiency of the house, and modified the existing design to work harmoniously with the local climate. The house now generates about 15 per cent more electricity than it consumes, and the photovoltaic system should have a pay-back period of just under nine years. The house ventilates and cools itself without any electrical assistance or air conditioning, and greywater nourishes the garden. Derek has been advised that for every dollar spend on retrofitting, he is adding at least double that amount to the house's market value. Making Your Home Sustainable is a practical and easy-to-follow guide for homeowners, builders and architects who are concerned about the effects of climate change and environmental degradation, and who want to do something about reversing the trend. Derek Wrigley shows how simple modifications to existing homes can help to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and utilise natural rather than imported energies and resources. He clearly explains how to: Identify retrofitting potential when buying a home; Rationalise energy and water consumption; Provide sunshine in southern rooms, warmth in winter, and cool air in summer; Use ventilation and insulation to reduce the need for artificial heating or cooling; Install a solar hot-water system; Utilise wasted sunlight to heat and illuminate your home; Create a beautiful landscape which also contributes to your household energy efficiency; and Install reflectors, sunshades, water recycling, heliostats, double-glazing, photovoltaics, water tanks, and other energy-saving and water-saving devices. With detailed descriptions, and around 150 photographs and diagrams, this revised edition of MAKING YOUR HOME SUSTAINABLE is the retrofitter's bible - an ideal, practical guide for anyone who wants to make their home more comfortable and save money on energy bills while increasing the value of their house and addressing the causes of global warming.

Sustainable Home Refurbishment

Author: David Thorpe
Publisher: Earthscan
ISBN: 1849776520
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Book Description
A retro-fit offers many benefits: cutting electricity and heating bills, increasing the resale value of homes, slashing carbon emissions and creating a healthier place to live. This book is the guide to making it happen. It looks at: draught-proofing, insulation and damp ventilation, heating and cooling electrical efficiency and renewable energy water use and re-use materials' life cycles and incorporating nature protection from climate change impacts - modelling energy flows and embodied energy how we can meet the need to cut carbon emissions from dwellings by eighty percent by 2050. Projects can apply to apartment blocks, recent builds and older, solid-walled properties. Enlivened with helpful diagrams and photographs, plus plenty of pointers for further information, it provides a comprehensive resource handbook for any building professional and contractor, students - or any homeowner serious about efficiency (cash and carbon) savings.

Old House Eco Handbook

Author: Roger Hunt
Publisher: White Lion Publishing
ISBN: 0711239770
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Book Description
How should we go about making old houses energy efficient without devaluing future sustainability or the appeal and character of old homes by the use of inappropriate solutions? This practical and essential guide to retrofitting for energy efficiency seeks to provide answers to this and other the questions homeowners of old houses are asking. Whether your house is medieval and timber-framed or a Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian terrace, it can be made more energy efficient and sustainable, and this practical and comprehensive handbook will show you how. Revised and updated throughout, and with a foreword by Kevin McLoud, Old House Eco Handbook includes chapters on the building envelope; roofs and ceilings; windows and doors; walls; floors; paints; energy, airandwater; plus a brand newchapter on retrofit materials. In association with The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, this is a must have for owners of old houses looking to make their homes more energy efficient and sustainable. Chapters Include: 1. Old houses can be green 2. Old house to eco house 3. The building envelope 4. Retrofit materials 5. Roofs and ceilings 6. Windows and doors 7. Walls 8. Floors 9. Paints 10. Energy, air and water 11. Old house for the future

Old House Eco Handbook

Author: Roger Hunt
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780711232785
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Book Description
Old House Eco Handbook is a companion volume to the authors' highly successful Old House Handbook, published in association with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). It seeks to answer the questions homeowners and others are asking about how to make old houses - medieval and timberframed, Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian terraces - energy-efficient and sustainable. The refurbishment or 'retrofitting' of old houses to meet new requirements into the future is now high on the Government's agenda. Old houses are, by their nature, a sustainable asset: their refurbishment is becoming a priority as attempts are made to address millions of energy-sapping, poorly insulated and far from airtight homes.

The Power of Existing Buildings

Author: Robert Sroufe
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 164283050X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Book Description
Your building has the potential to change the world. Existing buildings consume approximately 40 percent of the energy and emit nearly half of the carbon dioxide in the US each year. In recognition of the significant contribution of buildings to climate change, the idea of building green has become increasingly popular. But is it enough? If an energy-efficient building is new construction, it may take 10 to 80 years to overcome the climate change impacts of the building process. New buildings are sexy, but few realize the value in existing buildings and how easy it is to get to “zero energy” or low-energy consumption through deep energy retrofits. Existing buildings can and should be retrofit to reduce environmental impacts that contribute to climate change, while improving human health and productivity for building occupants. In The Power of Existing Buildings, academic sustainability expert Robert Sroufe, and construction and building experts Craig Stevenson and Beth Eckenrode, explain how to realize the potential of existing buildings and make them perform like new. This step-by-step guide will help readers to: understand where to start a project; develop financial models and realize costs savings; assemble an expert team; and align goals with numerous sustainability programs. The Power of Existing Buildings will challenge you to rethink spaces where people work and play, while determining how existing buildings can save the world. The insights and practical experience of Sroufe, Stevenson, and Eckenrode, along with the project case study examples, provide new insights on investing in existing buildings for building owners, engineers, occupants, architects, and real estate and construction professionals. The Power of Existing Buildings helps decision-makers move beyond incremental changes to holistic, results-oriented solutions.

Building with Awareness

Author: Ted Owens
Publisher: Building With Awareness
ISBN: 0977334317
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 154

Book Description
Teaches the step-by-step process of designing and building a straw bale home.

Solar Power Your Home For Dummies

Author: Rik DeGunther
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118051874
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Book Description
Want to take advantage of solar power in your home? Whether you’re looking to save on your energy costs by adding a few solar components or you want to build a solar-powered house from the ground up, Solar Power For Dummies takes the mystery out of this energy source and shows you how to put it to work for you! This friendly, hands-on guide is packed with tips for making your home more energy-efficient though solar power—and helping the planet at the same time. You’ll see how to survey your home to determine your current household energy efficiency and use, and evaluate where solar power would best benefit you. You’ll also calculate what the return on your investment will be before you make any decisions. Once you’ve decided on a project, you’ll see whether it’s best to hire a contractor or do it yourself. We leave no stone unturned—you’ll also discover how to: Choose and install your best solar system Handle small to large solar projects Heat and cool your house with solar energy Install exterior solar lighting Handle swimming pool, water heater, or ventilation solar projects Create greenhouses or solar rooms Build, buy, or sell a solar home Finance your solar investments Take advantage of tax rebates and incentives associated with solar power Avoid the worst solar mistakes Featuring ten of the easiest and cheapest do-it-yourself solar projects, Solar Power For Dummies is the fun and easy way to meet your energy needs with this clean power source!

Sustainable Retrofit and Facilities Management

Author: Paul Appleby
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415531098
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Book Description
Explores the relationship between the refurbishment of existing buildings, facility management and the wider community infrastructure

A Handbook of Sustainable Building Design and Engineering

Author: Dejan Mumovic
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113657316X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 476

Book Description
The combined challenges of health, comfort, climate change and energy security cross the boundaries of traditional building disciplines. This authoritative collection, focusing mostly on energy and ventilation, provides the current and next generation of building engineering professionals with what they need to work closely with many disciplines to meet these challenges. A Handbook of Sustainable Building Engineering covers: how to design, engineer and monitor a building in a manner that minimises the emissions of greenhouse gases; how to adapt the environment, fabric and services of existing and new buildings to climate change; how to improve the environment in and around buildings to provide better health, comfort, security and productivity; and provides crucial expertise on monitoring the performance of buildings once they are occupied. The authors explain the principles behind built environment engineering, and offer practical guidance through international case studies.

The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy

Author: Dan Chiras
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 0865716862
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
Presents information on how to improve a home's energy efficiency and switch to renewable energy resourses to provide electricity, hot water, heat, and cooling for a home.