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

~ Dan Chiras (Author)
Key Phrases: home energy savings, rammed earth tires, catchwater system, United States, Energy Star, Dan Chiras (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In this new comprehensive volume, Chiras includes chapters on green building materials, earth-sheltered architecture, passive solar heating and cooling, sustainable approaches to water and waste, energy efficiency, and environmental landscaping. He sets the record strait on the vast potential for passive heating and cooling and provides a resource guide, recommendations, and a green-building checklist.

From the Publisher

As homeowners become more environmentally savvy and demand ecological choices, a new generation of architects and builders is emerging, intent on creating warm and inviting homes that cause only a fraction of the environmental impact of conventional building methods. Dan Chiras’ The New Ecological Home provides an overview of green building techniques, materials, products and technologies that are either currently available or promise to be in the near future.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing (May 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931498164
• ISBN-13: 978-1931498166
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,194 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Books > Home & Garden > Home Design > Energy Efficient Design
  #8 in	Books > Home & Garden > Sustainable Living > Energy Efficiency
  #15 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Architecture > Landscape

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Overview of Green Building...Superb!, November 4, 2004

By	Linda M. Stuart (from Columbia, Missouri) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to wide array of green building options, December 11, 2006

By	A Customer - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

During the planning phase of building our first home, this book was very helpful. We liked the emphasis right at the start on site selection -- what to look for in everything from the overall community to aspects of the land itself and how to environmentally protect that land during construction. A comparison checklist for assessing lots is included. Even though ours will not be a "natural House" (rammed earth, straw bale, etc.) and though those types of construction are covered, there was plenty of solid information on building a more energy efficient, and less wasteful, home of wood and concrete. Also included are chapters on design, using green and non- or less toxic materials, sustainable approaches to water and waste, environmental landscaping, and enery-efficient design, heating, and cooling. As this will be a retirement home, we especially appreciated the chapter on accessiblilty and ergonomic design.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great textbook!, December 27, 2007

By	J. Van Wagner "Jacquie Van Wagner" (Newbury Park, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book could very easily serve as a textbook for a green building course. It's not a coffee table book - the photos are small, and black and white - but very useful in supporting the text. This is a serious book about alternative building written by and about a group of people who have been creatively, responsibly, thoughtfully building for a very long time. It's a good choice for builders who want to learn more about sustainability, students who want to go into the field, or homeowners who are looking to build. It's not so much glitzy and inspirational as it is informative and useful: comprehensive from site selection and design through building options and techniques, to landscaping, it also contains a great resource guide.