Passive Solar Homes
Power from the Sun, Wind, and Water

Purchase Energy Efficient Products (USA delivery only)
	The Independent Home: Living Well With Power from the Sun, Wind, and Water by Michael Potts, John Schaeffer Paperback (1993)
Whether you already own a home or plan to build one, The Independent Home will show you how to transform it into an energy-efficient, comfortable, self-sustainable home of the future-- right now.    Michael Potts's home has been featured on the ABC evening news as an example of the sane approach to simple living; he demonstrates how one can live well, save money, save resources, and still retain modern conveniences and comfort.   The Independent Home proves that it is not necessary to live in mud-floored huts and cook brown rice over a campfire to go back to the land.   How-To Editor's Recommended Book

Purchase Energy Efficient Products (USA delivery only)
	Affordable Passive Solar Homes: Low-Cost, Compact Designs by Richard Crowther Paperback  (1984)

The Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook: The Complete Guide to Renewable Energy Techologies and Sustainable Living by John Schaeffer, Doug Pratt Paperback (1996)

It is arguably a form of cultural insanity that industrial civilizations constantly bathed by free and clean energy from the sky (the sun and the wind) continue to depend upon dirty and limited chemical fuels that poison the people, their foods, and the land upon which they depend.  Happily, this comprehensive sourcebook provides those of you with foresight a way out of this madness; it includes products ranging from simple energy-saving devices such as compact fluorescent lights to home-scale energy-harvesting systems that utilize the sun, wind, and water to make electricity for people living "off-the-grid."    Chapters focus on Independent Living, Land, Shelter, Harvesting Energy, Managing Energy Systems, Heating and Cooling, Water, Energy Conservation, the Nontoxic Home, Home and Market Gardening, Mobility and Electric Vehicles, and Livelihood and Learning.   Committed to selling only products that promote environmental responsibility at an honest value, The Real Goods Trading Company is one of the fastest-growing companies in America.   Many of the products listed in another of our favorites, the Millennium Whole Earth Catalog, can be purchased by mail from Real Goods.

The Passive Solar House (Real Goods Independent Living Books) by James Kachadorian Paperback (1997)

This book offers a technique for building homes that heat and cool themselves in a wide range of different climates, using ordinary building materials available anywhere and with methods familiar to all building contractors and many do-it-yourselfers.   A formerly patented design for author James Kachadorian's Solar Slab heat exchanger is now available for the use of anyone motivated by the desire to build a house that needs a backup furnace or air conditioner rarely if ever.   This is a building book for the next century.    Applicable to a diversity of regions, climates, budgets, and styles of architecture, Kachadorian's techniques translate the essentials of timeless solar design (siting a home in harmony with nature, using windows as solar collectors, achieving year-round comfort by balancing good insulation with healthy supplies of fresh air) into practical wisdom for today's new generation of solar builders.

The Solar Home: How to Design and Build a House You Heat With the Sun by Mark Freeman Paperback (1994)

The Solar Home is the total guide to building a dwelling that uses the least expensive and most environmentally friendly source of heat - the sun.   Mark Freeman uses his firsthand experience to provide information on selecting a site, designing the rooms, framing, wiring, plumbing, finishing, and maintaining the home.   Prospective home builders are guided through the process of deciding which parts of the job to do themselves and which to contract out.   The Solar Home includes valuable tips on avoiding costly pitfalls.

Passive Solar House Basics by Peter Van Dresser Paperback (1996)

PASSIVE SOLAR HOUSE BASICS by Peter van DresserAnyone who has visited a solar adobe home on a cold winter day has felt the warmth and comfort of its natural radiant heat.   PASSIVE SOLAR HOUSE BASICS lays out in plain language what an owner-builder and designer will need to know about siting, designing, constructing, and living in a solar adobe home.   Van Dresser's text and pictures provide a beginner's course in adobe construction and passive solar heat collection, including suggestions for natural heat circulation and heat storage in thermal mass.   Included are sample house plans, ideas for solar hot water heaters, and plans-to-scale for solar crop dryers.   The simple means he has developed for economically harnessing the energy of the sun in an energy-efficient home are easily within the grasp of the average home owner, home builder, or solar enthusiast.    In 1958 solar pioneer Peter van Dresser built his first solar heated house, one of the first in the United States.   First published as HOMEGROWN SUN-DWELLINGS, PASSIVE SOLAR BASICS was the outgrowth of a solar demonstration project. Peter van Dresser is the author of LANDSCAPE FOR HUMANS, as well as numerous articles about solar energy and rural life.

Cooking With the Sun: How to Build and Use Solar Cookers by Beth Halacy, Dan Halacy Paperback (1992)