An energy auditor's guide to using less, saving more, and choosing appliances and systems that will make your home healthier and more efficient.Many homeowners are beginning to examine the energy efficiency of their own homes, asking questions about where energy comes from and how much it costs, how to choose new appliances, and what options exist for renewable energy.The Home Energy Diet answers all these questions and more while helping readers tak...

A Practical Manual for Making and Using Renewable Natural GasMake your own homemade natural gas from food scraps, garden trimmings, and animal waste!Understand how to craft a recipe to make your own renewable energy substitute for natural gas and propane.DIY Biogas contains complete plans and parts lists to build two different biogas generators that help you learn, understand, and grow your biogas operation....

Are you looking for creative ways to lower your energy costs, generate more of your own power, or become less reliant on the grid? Paul Scheckel offers practical advice for taking matters into your own hands. Explaining the fundamentals of solar, wind, water, and biofuel energy production, Scheckel shows you how to build and maintain a wide variety of energy-saving and energy-producing equipment, ranging from thermosiphon solar hot water collectors to bicycle-powered generators. Use less e...

A step-by-step guide to building a lifestyle based on independence, security, and sustainability—includes color photos.Build your way to a more self-sufficient lifestyle with step-by-step projects for backup and supplementary utilities—including independent water, heat, and electricity—growing and storing food, raising small livestock, beekeeping, and more. Many of the projects require basic materials available at your everyday home center, but this book also provid...

Learn how to create and maintain your own underwater ecosystem.Aquascaping is the art of creating beautiful aquariums with natural materials and live plants. From the brilliance of Takashi Amano and numerous other innovators, aquascapes have become a popular way to enjoy aquariums. In Aquascaping: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planting, Styling, and Maintaining Beautiful Underwater Aquariums, planted aquarium expert George Farmer teaches how to create the perfec...

"If you want to grow plants indoors, you need this book." —Niki Jabbour, author and staff writer at savvygardening.comGardening Under Lights is a highly-detailed, accessible guide for seed starters, plant collectors, houseplant fans, and anyone who wants to successfully garden indoors any time of the year. You'll learn the basics of photosynthesis, the science of light, how to accurately measure how much light a plant needs, and details about the most up-to...

With practical information aimed at home DIYers, author Tyler Baras (Farmer Tyler to his fans) shows exactly how to build, plant, and maintain over a dozen unique hydroponic systems, some costing just a few dollars to make.No soil? No sunlight? No problem. A hydroponic growing system gives you the power to grow plants anywhere. Even if you live in an area where water is scarce, a hydroponic system is the answer you’ve been looking for. Hydroponic s...

Build your own passive solar greenhouse for year-round food production in any climateThe Year-round Solar Greenhouse is the one-stop guide to designing and building greenhouses that harness and store energy from the sun to create naturally heated, lush growing environments even in the depths of winter, covering principles of solar greenhouse design and siting, glazing material properties and selection, controlling heat loss, ventilation, and construction ...

Building with straw bales is being embraced by amateurs and professionals for its versatility, comfort, environmental friendliness and high insulation. New methods should expand its growing worldwide popularity. In Practical Straw Bale Building, Murray Hollis uses simple, easy to understand language to describe the established techniques of straw bale construction and ways in which they can be improved. He also presents a new straw bale construction system that has substantial benefits over c...

Written in clear, easy-to-understand language for the novice grower, Closet Cultivator is the ultimate secret growing guide. The author discusses lighting, nutrients, water systems, potency, and more, and he shows how to establish a high-yield garden in a limited space -- and on a limited budget.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Aquaponic Gardening is a comprehensive guide to aquaponic gardening, from choosing a setup to selecting fish and vegetables. In addition to everything one needs to know to run a healthy aquaponic garden and care for both the vegetables and fish, there are step-by-step plans with photos for building different size systems. The expert author fully explains how to garden indoors and how to resize and move a garden inside or outside, depending on the sea...

"The essential guide for people serious about setting up a commercial, cold-water aquaponic system." —Dr. Daniel Baker, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Vancouver Island UniversityProfitable cold-water fish and vegetable production. Join the aquaponic farming revolution!Built around a proven 120' greenhouse system operable by one person, The Aquaponic Farmer is the game changer that distills vast experience and complete step-by-step guidance ...