A comprehensive guide to building green on any budget. 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. Using proven methods based on applied building science, the authors show how to: Lower base construction costs to provide funding for high performance upgrades Achieve a net-zero energy home, including "zero-ing" water, waste, carbon, and associated costs within fifteen years Live affordably into the future, despite anticipated rising costs for fuel, water, materials, taxes, and health care This comprehensive guide to building green on any budget defines the strategies that maximize the return on green investments. Written for anyone who has ever been swayed by the argument that the price tag limits how green a home can be, Green Home Building is a must-read for builders, contractors, architects, designers, and homeowners. Miki Cook is a green building and sustainability consultant who has dedicated her career to educating contractors and the public on the strategies, methods, and benefits of green homes. Doug Garrett has trained thousands of homebuilders, architects, and sub-contractors to build energy-efficient homes using applied building science to improve comfort, durability, and healthfulness while meeting or exceeding the energy code.

GREEN BUILDING: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES IN RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION, International Edition provides a current, comprehensive guide to this exciting, emerging field. From core concepts to innovative applications of cutting-edge technology and the latest industry trends, this text offers an in-depth introduction to the construction of "green" homes. Unlike many texts that adopt a product-oriented approach, this book emphasizes the crucial planning, processes, and execution methods necessary for effective, environmentally sound construction. This text demonstrates that Earth-friendly products and energy-efficient materials take planning in order to make a building truly green. This visionary text helps students and professionals develop the knowledge and skills to "think green" from start to finish, empowering and inspiring them to build truly sustainable homes.

Build a truly green home for the same total net cost as the conventional alternative

Make Your Green Home a Reality! Building the right-sized green home involves making eco-smart decisions. In Building Today's Green Home, you will learn: • How to choose the correct location of your building lot and what is the optimum placement of your house to take advantage of solar energy • How to design the right-sized home for your needs now and in the future • What are the best sustainable construction materials to use for building your home • About the newest insulation materials and techniques • What HVAC units are the most efficient and are the best at saving energy • How to grade the building lot for natural sustainability The decisions you make today will have a huge impact on your future and the future of your children. And, building the right-sized energy-efficient home will free up investment capital for your retirement years.

More and more people are becoming interested not just in living green, but particularly in living in a home that's ecologically sound. With thousands of new eco-minded houses being built, and the real estate market becoming more attuned to home-buyers' interests, demand for ecologically efficient living spaces is still exceeding the supply. Yet few resources exist for those wanting to build, buy, or remodel their own home to use less energy and be environmentally sensitive. Your Eco-Friendly Home shows readers how they can: find, finance, and buy eco-friendly real estate • work with eco-conscious agents and brokers • use environmentally friendly materials and techniques for interiors and exteriors • make their homes and landscaping more efficient • take advantage of tax incentives for going green This practical, reader-friendly guide gives readers all the guidance they need to easily become ecologically responsible homeowners.

The “green building revolution’’ is happening right now. This book is its chronicle and its manifesto. Written by industry insider Jerry Yudelson, The Green Building Revolution introduces readers to the basics of green building and to the projects and people that are advancing this movement. With interviews and case studies, it does more than simply report on the revolution; it shows readers why and how to start thinking about designing, building, and operating high performance, environmentally aware (LEED-certified) buildings on conventional budgets. Evolving quietly for more than a decade, the green building movement has found its voice. Its principles of human-centered, environmentally sensitive development have reached a critical mass of architects, engineers, builders, developers, professionals in government, and consumers. Green buildings are showing us how we can have healthier indoor environments that use far less energy and water than conventional buildings do. The federal government, eighteen states, and nearly fifty U.S. cities already require new public buildings to meet “green” standards. According to Yudelson, this is just the beginning. The Green Building Revolution describes the many “revolutions” that are taking place today: in commercial buildings, schools, universities, public buildings, health care institutions, housing, property management, and neighborhood design. In a clear, highly readable style, Yudelson outlines the broader “journey to sustainability” influenced by the green building revolution and provides a solid business case for accelerating this trend. Illustrated with more than 50 photos, tables, and charts, and filled with timely information, The Green Building Revolution is the definitive description of a major movement that’s poised to transform our world.