SH Bookshelf: Your Home, Illustrated

Long-term readers of this magazine will recall that for our first three years of publication, we ran a continuing series of articles called "From the Ground Up," by then-technical editor Charlie Wing. Those 22 illustrated articles, which examined in detail all of the various systems in a typical...

SH Bookshelf: Beginnings and Endings

Two new books provide details on how to efficiently build homes as well as take them apart. Prefabulous: The House of Your Dreams, Delivered Fresh From the Factory, by Sheri Koones (a Smart HomeOwner contributing writer), demystifies the concept of the prefabricated house, and explains why these ...

SH Bookshelf: Carbon Busters, Organic Lawns

You can give both your home and your lawn an eco-friendly makeover this summer, as described in two new books. The Carbon Buster's Home Energy Handbook, by Godo Stoyke, an energy efficiency consultant, explains that carbon busting - that is, reducing carbon emissions by making your home more ener...

SH Bookshelf: Achieving Energy Independence

Given the uncertain nature of our current oil, gas and natural gas reserves, many homeowners are starting to look for viable alternatives. One option is to move toward energy independence, in which a household relies on alternative power sources instead of fossil fuels. So how does one achieve en...

SH Bookshelf: Multitasking Homes

Today’s homes are required to do more than just keep the rain off our heads. They’re also expected to be more flexible as well as more durable.Flexibility and adaptability become issues as the needs of homeowners evolve over time, and that’s where the concept of universal d...

SH Bookshelf: Green Pages

Homeowners interested in making their houses more eco-friendly can turn to a growing number of books for help and advice. Here are two that caught our eye. Green Remodeling, by Boulder, Colo.-based green consultants David Johnston and Kim Master, is a comprehensive guide to residential greenbuild...

Renewable energy for your home

Ready to tap into clean, affordable, renewable energy sources to heat and cool your home? The Homeowner’s Guide to Renewable Energy, by Dan Chiras, will tell you how.

Book Review: Power from the Wind

Faced with frequent power outages, skyrocketing energy costs, and constant reminders of the impacts of conventional energy sources, homeowners and businesses are beginning to explore ways to use energy more efficiently and to generate their own electricity to reduce fuel bills and their carbon ...

Living Green

Social issues are, and need to be, a central part of environmental and economic sustainability efforts. Using stories of extraordinary communities across North America, Living Green showcases th...

Design for Water: Rainwater Harvesting, Stormwater Catchment and Alternate Water Reuse

In an era of dwindling resources, water is poised to become the new oil as the entire world now faces the reality of a decreasing supply of clean water. To avert a devastating shortage, we must not only look at alternate water sources for existing structures, we must also plan our new developments d...