Home Design in The Books Store

As oil prices continue to rise, many people are starting to think about how to unhook from the electricity grid. The Renewable Energy Handbook focuses completely on off-grid, sustainable living and rural energy independence.

Author/engineer William H. Kemp, who is a leading expert in small- and mid-scale renewable energy technologies, designed and built his own off-grid home. The result is a house that has all the standard “middle-class” creature comforts while using less than five times the total fossil-fuel energy of the average North American house.

The Renewable Energy Handbook focuses on the unique requirements of off-grid living and contains chapters on energy conservation; heating and cooling; backup power; domestic water heating; wireless communications; photovoltaic, wind, and microhydro energy generation; battery selection; and inverters.

Since its release in 2003, The Renewable Energy Handbook has been a top-selling technology book and is recognized as the best book in its field.

The book is augmented with hundreds of illustrations, line drawings, photographs, and appendices.

There's no question that it pays to be an informed consumer. Knowledge of your home's systems helps you control repair and construction costs and make sure the correct elements are being installed or replaced.

This book uncovers the mysteries behind just about every major appliance and building element in your house. Clear, "exploded" drawings show you exactly how these things should be put together and how they function - what to check if they don't work, and what you can do that might save you having to call in a professional.

The easy-to-understand pictures and explanations on every page get right to the point, helping you understand how things work, what can go wrong, and how to trouble-shoot a problem.

Virtually everything in your house is included:

• Electrical - circuit breakers and grounding, service, outlets, lamps and fixtures.
  
• Heating and Air conditioning - gas, electrical and oil - ductwork and piping, thermostats, central and window AC units, humidifiers and dehumidifiers, and air filtering systems.
  
• Plumbing - kitchen and bath fixtures, piping, water heaters, traps and vents, septic tanks, pumps and water softener systems - even sprinkler systems and swimming pool filters/heaters.
  
• Major household appliances - from kitchen to laundry.
  
• Foundation, framing, doors and windows - including issues like drainage and radon, types of framing and how it supports the house, and all types of doors and windows.

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

As the building industry moves toward a single set of construction codes that have no regional limitations, architects, builders, engineers, and interior designers need an interpretive guide to help them better understand how the code affects their practices. The seond edition of Building Codes Illustrated fills this need by interpreting the updated 2006 International Building Code® (IBC) in a visual format that designers both need and understand.

This unique marriage of bestselling author Francis D.K. Ching's illustrative talent and Steven Winkel's code expertise provides an accessible, time-saving companion guide to the latest code. The visual presentation of information extracts the core portions of the building code that are most relevant for professionals and hones building codes down to the essentials. Organized to correspond with related subject matter in the IBC, Building Codes Illustrated enables architects, engineers, and other design professionals to quickly find clarifying information on the nonstructural provision of the IBC. You'll gain a clear and complete understanding of those sections at a glance through enlightening computer-rendered illustrations and succinct yet thorough interpretations.

There's no excuse for not being up to code. Avoid costly mistakes with the invaluable help of Building Codes Illustrated, Second Edition.