Sustainable Building

The green-building movement has produced hundreds of "how-to" books and websites that are filled with tips about green building and what homeowners should do to go green. While helpful and informative, when it comes to making actual purchasing and installation decisions, these books do not make it any easier for a homeowner to prioritize against a budget. Here, Melisssa Rappaport Schifman shares her knowledge and experience for others to use in their journey toward a greener way of living.

Information is power. It drives commerce, protects nations, and forms the backbone of systems that range from health care to high finance. Yet despite the avalanche of data available in today's information age, neither institutions nor individuals get the information they truly need to make well-informed decisions. Faulty information and sub-optimal decision-making create an imbalance of power that is exaggerated as governments and corporations amass enormous databases on each of us.

Building Your Permaculture Property offers a revolutionary holistic method to overcome overwhelm in the complex process of resilient land design. It distills the authors' decades of experience as engineers, farmers, educators, and consultants into a five-step process complete with principles, practices, templates, and workflow tools.

We're overusing the earth's finite resources, and yet excessive consumption is failing to improve our lives. In Enough Is Enough, Rob Dietz and Dan O'Neill lay out a visionary but realistic alternative to the perpetual pursuit of economic growth-an economy where the goal is not more but enough.

You don't have to be an expert to start a thriving, bountiful garden. Any basic guide can show you how. But if you want to figure out how to maximize your crop yield…know how to stretch your growing season beyond traditional limits…and even grow summer crops all year long…basic beginner’s guides won’t be of much help. After all, they’re only meant to cover the basics.

Get off-the-grid and become self-sufficient without leaving your backyard! Cultivating a sustainable homestead off the grid has become more and more popular as many people are searching for alternatives to the trappings of modern society. Off-Grid Living and the Self-Sufficient Backyard is your complete guide to transitioning off the grid. It doesn't matter if you are just getting started or are already an experienced homesteader. This audiobook will serve as your guide for creating your backyard mini-farm and planning for your off-grid life.

Most people who are considering off grid living, are those who are wanting to escape the stress and busyness of city life, and enjoy the peace and tranquility of country living. Owning your own property, and providing for your needs with self-sufficiency projects sounds wonderful and fun, but what are the most important self-sufficiency/survival projects, and how do you accomplish them? That is where this book will help.

Essential Rainwater Harvesting is a comprehensive manual for designing, building, and maintaining water-harvesting systems for the warm and cold climates of the world. Presenting design considerations and approaches for the most common household rainwater supply scenarios.

What if you could build a garden that not only cuts back on these costs and eliminates harmful pesticides from your family’s diet, but also helps restore the planet in the process? The time is now to stop the waste of resources and consumption of contaminated foods and turn back to permaculture–this book is here to help you every step of the way.

Are you transitioning to off-grid boondocking, know you need a solar system, but you're scared as heck to get started? Building a mobile off-grid solar system can be intimidating to most beginners. Trust me, I used a portable generator for the first couple of years of van life. But understanding the basic principles of off-the-grid solar power can probably save your life if you start connecting wires before you understand what they all do.

With a nation seemingly more divided than ever, many worry that Americans risk losing ground on solving the complex, interrelated problems the country faces - including rising inequality, the specter of climate change, astronomical health care costs, and economic stagnation. The renowned economist Jeffrey D. Sachs offers a practical approach to move America toward a new consensus: sustainable development.

Do you dream of leaving the “real world” behind and leading a simpler life? More and more people are choosing to live off-grid, grow their own food, and provide their electricity independently. No matter what your personal reason is, achieving this lifestyle means total independence and freedom. The options for living off-grid are endless - but it does take knowledge, skills, and planning. With detailed tips and information on everything from laws and taxes to hunting and fishing, this thorough book will take your off-grid life from a pleasant daydream to your blissful reality.

Character is something intrinsic to us all; it forms and reveals who we are. Unbeknownst to many, character is foundational to our judgment, behavior, and leadership. As we tackle the grand challenges of our time, strength of character guides us to make better decisions, creates greater well-being, and contributes to human flourishing. For those who lead—whether in the public, private, not for profit, or education sectors—a greater understanding of character will challenge your thinking, inspire new ideas, and elevate your personal and professional performance.

Are you encountering resistance when trying to identify and recruit extraordinary but elusive, passive candidates that your competitors ultimately attract? Do your executive searches close with marginal candidates? It's time to transform your approach and results with a proven action plan. In the richly rewarding executive search business, it's not just about filling vacant positions but finding the perfect match between executive and company.

The fundamentals of permaculture are simple: care for people and the Earth, and share what you have. With these in mind, practitioners promote a system with a sense of respect for all life on the planet. You may, however, be anxious about not knowing what to do. After all, not everybody knows about permaculture. But don’t worry–you don’t need to be an expert to start your own permaculture garden.

Essential Green Roof Construction is a comprehensive, in-depth guide to building simple green roofs for houses and small buildings. Packed with detailed photos, illustrations, case studies, and code compliance advice, it offers clear step-by-step instructions necessary to create your own living roof on a new build or as a retrofit. Where common sense meets beauty—a green roof is a system of layers that work together to support plant life, insulate homes, and make the world a greener place.

Root cellars are making a comeback! Do you often wonder what to do with your harvest? How are you going to store it all? Or do you only grow small amounts because you lack sufficient storage space? Why not build a root cellar? Root cellars are an ancient tradition. Together with curing meats and pickling, root cellars have long been a food storage method, particularly root vegetables. Fortunately, root cellars are starting to make a noticeable comeback, enabling people to store more produce for longer without the need for electricity.

Why do so many farm businesses struggle to survive, let alone thrive? It’s because they don’t make clear strategic choices that reward them with a competitive advantage. Instead, most entrepreneurs start with a boilerplate business because they think they're supposed to. Boilerplate business plans offer little help in guiding strategic choices that determine if your business thrives or dies.

While discussing the context in which certain capital costs effectively create an obstacle to the implementation of sustainable building and design practices, Mr. Kobacker discusses many of the misconceptions and erroneous beliefs that must first be dispelled before any other steps can be taken. The internationally renowned sustainability expert then addresses the specific strategic vision he employs in maximizing a project's value while also minimizing its cost.

Our buildings are making us sick. Our homes, offices, factories, and dormitories are, in some sense, fresh parasites on the sacred Earth, Nahasdzáán. In search of a better way, author Jim Kristofic journeys across the Southwest to apprentice with architects and builders who know how to make buildings that will take care of us. This is where he meets the House Gods who are building to the sun so that we can live on Earth. Forever.