Read to save some green
Homeowners and future homebuyers are among those in the best position to make a difference to global warming. That’s because buildings–their energy production in heating and cooling–are the single largest contributor to global warming, producing an estimated 48 percent of the world’s heat-trapping gases, followed by the transportation industry at roughly 30 percent.
That’s why it might make sense to bone up on the tips and tricks offered in the new book, “Green Building for Dummies.”
Admittedly I’m not a fan of “…For Dummies” guides, because on principle it’s not dumb to delve into a subject and learn as much as you can. This book’s author, Eric Corey Freed, a San Francisco-based architect of sustainable living spaces, is highly respected in his field and definitely smart.
Corey Freed says that homeowners can get the most bang for their buck in their home’s energy efficiency by improving its insulation.
“It’s the best money spent” to insulate in oddball places like around hot-water heaters or the attic, along with making walls thicker for more padding, he said.
In fact, one of the more startling facts in the book is that if Americans were to pad the estimated 15 million buildings that don’t have insulation in this country, we would save about 2.1 million gallons of oil per day. (We currently waste that much oil on un-insulated buildings daily, according to figures Freed dug up from the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.) So if we were to save that oil we could essentially remove our dependence on oil from Saudi Arabia, from whom the United States imports about 1.5 million gallons a day. Canada is the only country that sends us more.
Other recommendations in the book: Switch out all those standard light bulbs to compact fluorescents, which only use 10 percent of the energy of regular ones; and install a dual-flush toilet to save water. For all those people without electrical engineering degrees, the book also contains a simple solar panel calculator so that readers can figure out roughly how much it will cost to install solar panels.
“It takes this complex information and brings it down to a level that’s accessible,” Corey Freed says. “That’s what’s needed to get us off this fossil fuel based economy we’re on.”
Newly on sale at Amazon.com, it’s well worth the money at $15.