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Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process. Cradle to Cradle is a refreshing change from the intractable environmental conflicts that dominate headlines. It's a handbook for 21st-century innovation and should be required reading for business hotshots and environmental activists. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
A manifesto for a radically different philosophy and practice of manufacture and environmentalism
"Reduce, reuse, recycle" urge environmentalists; in other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. As William McDonough and Michael Braungart argue in their provocative, visionary book, however, this approach perpetuates a one-way, "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that dates to the Industrial Revolution and casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. Why not challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably damage the natural world, they ask.
In fact, why not take nature itself as our model? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we do not consider its abundance wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly effective; hence, "waste equals food" is the first principle the book sets forth. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new-either as "biological nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles, without being "downcycled" into low-grade uses (as most "recyclables" now are).
Elaborating their principles from experience (re)designing everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, the authors make an exciting and viable case for change.
Customer Reviews:
A pleasant read.......2007-09-24
Definitely would recommend this to anyone who would like to learn about how societies will/should change to conform to the processes of nature. Significant change need to occur to shape a planet where humans can survive for a longer duration (than the current forecast). This means alleviating environmental threats that were initially caused by our own doing.
A must for anyone developing products.......2007-09-19
This book put a new light on the manufacturing process. I am currently studying to be an engineer, and upon reading this book, I feel I have gained important insight into how to ethically create products. The focus of the book is to show that being "less bad", as the current way of thinking promotes, is not the right mentality to have. Instead the book proposes that products need to be looked at in a renewable sense, that is, how can it be completely reused to make something new when its useful life has been spent (hence Cradle to Cradle and not Cradle to Grave). I found the book to be very inspirational and look forward to applying its ideas in my career.
2107: "You People Lived in Filth!" - A sort of book review of Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart's Cradle to Cradle.......2007-08-18
One hundred years isn't a long time. Yet, in the last one hundred years we can account for radical changes in the expectations that we - in the West at least - have concerning the standards of the food we eat and the conditions that we live in. We readily expect that our waste will neatly leave our homes, our malls, our schools, workplaces, and public spots en route to some place where it disappears from sight and smell forever. In fact, we rarely think about whether our waste ends up burnt, buried, or recycled, nor whether the food we dine on is thoroughly inspected and safe. We can think back to 1907 as a period in which there was nothing in the way of food safety standards (though a movement in that direction was initiated as a result of Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle, which was published that same year). Nor was there any notion of labor rights, environmental protection, and many of the sanitation procedures that we often take for granted nowadays.
Looking back through history ever further, to the crowded city streets of Paris, London, or Rome in the 17th and 18th century, reveals a more distasteful reality of how people lived. The blood of slaughtered animals, along with human excrement and other waste flowed through the sewers of these magnificent cities. "How did people live like this?" we might wonder. We shutter to think about living in such conditions, which allowed for the rapid spread of pestilence and sickness, not to mention unthinkable stench. While this may still be the experience of too many in the developing world, a signal of the progress and greatness of the modernized West has been our ability to escape the condition of living in our own waste.
Yet I've wondered recently how those living in 2107 will look upon the collective condition of the world as it stands today? Will they think that we live in filth? Despite the fact that we can split atoms, fly space crafts around the solar system, cure many illnesses, make electricity from the sun's rays, and communicate with each other in a myriad of digital ways, I wonder if they will ask why we still chose to live in our waste? I think that they will find it extremely perplexing that a society as developed as ours, who has the self awareness and knowledge about the harm that we inflict on ourselves and for posterity - not to mention the multitude of living systems that we are embedded in - refused to develop a different course for humanity.
When I say that we live in filth I mean that we continue to choke on unsafe air from the cars we drive and the outdated and dangerous ways that we engage in mass industrialization. I mean that we continue to produce millions and millions of consumable products made from an array of unsafe chemicals that we know little about and which we simply burn or bury after we use them one or two times. I find it so perplexing that industry continues to spends so much time and energy developing products that will only be used for a small fraction of time by consumers, yet will spend hundreds of years in landfills (I'm thinking especially of the enormous amount of plastic packaging that most products come in, only to be discarded immediately).
We dump many of the items that we have no more use for into ever expanding landfills that are getting closer and closer to the places we live and the sources of water we eventually come to drink. We are, in effect, living in our own waste. We put zero amount of effort into thinking of ways to design the same products that we rely on daily so that they are not harmful for humans or the environments in which we live. Scratch that, we have the technology and the know how for making safer and better products, however we lack leaders (both political & business) with the will, courage, and vision to bring humanity into the next industrial revolution. The first industrial revolution centered on extracting resources from the Earth (with little thought of replacing them) and putting these resources through production processes that have amounted to harming both human and non-human life for many years to come. The next industrial revolution will be about reengineering the production of consumer goods so that the stuff we make is in accordance with our natural environment. It will be about plastics that are biodegradable and the eradication of materials that are not. It will be about more intelligent approaches to designing buildings, which will utilize natural light, wind patterns, and the surrounding ecosphere to produce happier places to work and live, and which no longer rely on burning fossil fuels for cooling, heating, and sanitation. It will be about re-conceptualizing how we design, plan, and imagine the cities that most of humanity has come to chose to live in.
I'm currently drinking a soda out of a plastic bottle made from polymers derived from petroleum. This bottle, which not only is derived from the most contested resource of our time (though clean water is quickly taking its place) will be intact for those living in 2107 to view and touch as an artifact of an era which may be known in the future as one of reckless disregard, ignorance, and waste. Even the popular notion of recycling many of the products that we use only serves to slow down the rate in which we are harming ourselves. Recycling for many products is really a process of downcycling - a term coined by Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart in their book Cradle to Cradle. The process of recycling a product essentially causes it to loose its quality each time it is put through the recycling process (assuming that individuals keep recycling each new plastic reincarnate). Even though I will recycle this bottle, and it will become another plastic product again, it will eventually have to be disregarded after going through a few recycles. Alas, we are really just slowing down the rate by which synthetics eventually reach our waste graveyards or incinerators. In addition, while it is thought to be a socially responsible activity, the process of recycling releases into the atmosphere dangerous toxins emitted by the burning of plastics during the recycling process.
What is radically different about the world from 1907, or 17th century European cities, is that we fully understand the consequences of continuing down the path we are on. Furthermore, we have the knowledge and creative ideas of how to alter that path. What we lack, sadly, is the will to cause massive social change in how we consume and live. McDonough and Braungart's text urges product designers, city planners, and architects to approach their designs with the future of humanity in mind. Interestingly, they are not saying that we need to save the planet, for the planet will still be here long after homo sapiens has expired. Their message is that we need to save ourselves from the harm we are inflicting on ourselves. Their cradle-to-cradle philosophy urges designers to make products that can easily be disassembled after their use and put back into the production cycle as something else. In this sense, products should have an immense shelf life, being able to become that same product again or easily transformed into some other consumer product. The idea is to rid ourselves of the current approach to production which is based on a cradle-to-grave approach: extract resources from the Earth to make consumer products which are then discarded (thrown away) into landfills or burnt up in incinerators, expelling unknown synthetic chemicals into the ecosphere which we rely on for life.
It's time for us to recognize that the approach to mass production and living brought on by the industrial revolution is antiquated. If anything, it's insulting that humanity has yet to update itself from what seems to be such an archaic paradigm of not only how we make things, but what are relationship ought to be with the multitude of living systems that we are embedded in. All other living species exist in an interdependent cyclical system in which their "wastes equals food" for some other set of beings. It's high time that we apply this age old and ubiquitous principle to how we manufacture and produce all the things that we need to live as well.
This book is amazing - 6 stars.......2007-08-12
If you care about ecology and if you ever wondered how humanity can live in a harmony with the nature - you must read this book.
Imagine plastic container that you are encouraged to throw away - it contains no toxins, biodegrades and serves as nutrition for soil... Imagine the car you give back to the manufacturer who gives you instead a newer model, then manufacturer takes apart the old car piece by piece and infinitely reuses the parts... And so on... This book is made out of plastic that can be printed on over and over again...
A very insightful book.......2007-08-04
With all the talk these days about Global warming this is a great book to read.
For many, in my opinion including myself, educated in similar thought processes dating back to beginnings of the industrial revolution has created many of the problems, as a world, we now face. The two authors try to break down these barriers and describe ways in which we can all treat the planet with a little more respect and develop new ways of thinking. The idea as they write,"throwing that away." Where are you throwing it away to? It basically ends up in someone else's back yard polluting their environment while delaying the inevitable pollution of your local environment. I hope this book motivates at least a few individuals enough where they do become active or lead them down a path where they develop ways to decrease individuals carbon foot print.
Ideas written about in this book reflects the Sundance Channels: The Green, Bid Ideas for a Small Planet, shows about individuals trying to make an a more sustainable environment. Some of the documentaries related to this series shows areas that have been so heavily polluted and groups trying to remedy them. It was quite alarming to see areas such as this.
Again, a great book with many new ideas and ways to look at things
Book Description
Natural swimming pools rely on the correct balance of plants and microorganisms to clean and purify the water. They are a safe place for children to play and birds to drink, and are a dramatic example of ecological design, combining the natural and man-made worlds while creating beauty. These pools offer enjoyment not only in the warm months, but during winter, too, when they can be used for ice skating and other activities. Often the focal point of a garden, natural swimming pools blend into their environments, flowing into the surroundings with plants and rocks.They reflect the changing seasons and they enhance the environment naturally. They are easy and less costly to maintain than chemical pools, providing significant savings in water. Chlorine and other common pool chemicals are hazardous to human health and are not used. This book is a necessary resource for anyone interested in having a natural swimming pool and shows how a natural swimming pool system works, as well as the environmental, health, and safety benefits it offers. Drawings, diagrams, and charts cover planning, design, biology, materials, construction, planting, and maintenance. Over 300 beautiful color pictures feature projects that will inspire you to have your own natural water garden where you can swim in harmony with nature at any time.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect book.......2007-09-04
Great book for all aspects of creating a variety of green/natural pools. Beautiful pictures and good illustrations and copy to help in decision making.
YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK .......2007-08-22
Simply put this book is a MUST READ for anyone intersted in any aspect of Sustainable and Ecological Design. It should be read right along with Permaculture by Mollison, the Passive Solar Handbook by Mazria, Rainwater Harvesting by Lancaster, and ecocities to Living Machines by Todd. Even if you aren't specifically interested in making a swimming pool (which you will be after reading it) the insights into the workings of hydro-ecologies and how to design natural systems are invaluable!
If you aren't interested in the whole range of sustainability but just this particular topic of pool design then this book is STILL A MUST READ. If you're an ecologist who wants to make a pool, or a pool designer who wants to do something ecological this book provides an excellent layman's understanding of ecological design, with good technical and artistic advice for how to do it, and good technical and artistic advice for swimming pool construction.
I would still advise you to also purchase the book Poolscaping as a companion to this one.
This is an all around excellent book buy it now.
Beautiful photos; strange text.......2007-08-01
Thumbing through the book will make you want to move to Austria or Germany where beautiful "natural" pools are somehat established. Why is the U. S. so environmentally backward? Unfortunately, the text is awkwardly translated at times such that one has to struggle to figure out what is meant with limited success.The assumption is that one is swimming only in the summer, but in California we may want to swim year round. Useful especially since so little information is available. Can't understand why the publisher didn't insist on professional proofreading.Buy it for inspiration, or wait for the next edition, or wait for one more applicable to your area. It does provide info in the back about two U.S resources, one in CA.
Very complete book .......2007-02-24
Is the book i need for learning on natural swimming pool. Now i can make my own pool
Surprisingly COMPREHENSIVE!.......2007-02-09
This large sized book covered the subject exceedingly well in lots of color photos with explanations and, more importantly, in lots of diagrams and nuts and bolts descriptions. I only read sections here and there but what I did read clearly indicated to me that you could actually use this book to build a natural swimming pool. At the least, you could definitely make a solid decision whether or not you could build or would want to build such a pool on your property. These pools are basically like salt water aquariums in that you have to make a biosphere and monitor it. In some ways it's not as easy as it sounds but also not as hard as it sounds. However, start up takes time and it can be tricky to finally reach environmental stabilization. I am not going to build a natural pool but I still found this book very useful. At the end this book are MANY pages of water plants and trees recommended for certain types of water areas. There are zone maps of the US included for reference. So even if you just want to make a little ornamental fountain in a big pot on the patio deck or a pond or a bog out back, this book has a VERY comprehensive set of plant lists you will find exceedingly useful. 18 pages of them. Categories include Submerged Plants, Floating Plants, Floating Leaved Plants, Shallow Marginal Plants, Deep Marginal Plants, Moisture-loving Plants, Bog/Marsh Plants, Waterside Plats-Trees & Shrubs, Ferns, Grasses Sedges Reeds and Rushes. Botanical and Common Names are listed along with height, spread, water depth, flower color, flower period, foliage, position, comments and plant zone. It's the best I've seen in any book so far.
Book Description
Sherri Hunter, author of the best-selling Creating with Concrete, proves once again that concrete isn't just for sidewalks anymore; it's perfect for the garden too. A selection of 30 beautiful designs suggests the range of this increasingly popular material, and the illustrated instructions make the craft's fundamentals easy to learn. Because the simplest projects come first, beginners can work their way through the book progressively, building on their skills. Novices will have fun making the carved trough, sandcast bowl, and elegant relief panel. More sophisticated projects, including a decorative walkway and polished table, come next, and they'll bring charm to any outdoor space. More adventurous artists can unleash their creativity on a "Garden Guardian" sculpture or water feature. A Selection of the Crafters Choice and Homestyle Book Clubs.
Customer Reviews:
OK.......2007-09-21
Check it out from your local library first - not one I'd add to my permanent collection
Creative Concrete Ornaments for the Garden.......2007-08-25
Super book with detailed information on creation from beginning to end! Super for beginners and seasoned artists.
Thorough, informative and with a gammot of projects.......2007-08-24
I really enjoyed this book. It is detailed and the projects are vastly different from one another. What I also appreciated is the emphasis on doing things right, such as waiting for the concrete to set for 24 days is an example on an item. More emphasis on the internal structure using wire, rebar, etc. I would highly recommend this book and I am anxious to put into use what it taught me.
Fun Projects.......2007-07-03
This a great idea book. Many fun and interesting projects. Directions and supplies needed are well explained.
Excellent book.......2007-04-07
The author is very thorough on this subject and provides extensive desciptions of concrete ornament projects and concrete mixes. The only frustration I had was that in most examples a picture of the completed project was not included until the final chapter. It would have been more helpful after the description of 'how to' make the project. I think most would find this book extremely helpful by taking you from start to finished project.
Book Description
Discover how to create a backyard bird sanctuary with the expert guidance of the National Audubon Society. Your backyard will come alive by applying these feeding and gardening techniques. Includes a photographic guide to the birds of North America, as well as the trees and plants that attract them. The ultimate resource for anyone interested in creating a bird-friendly habitat.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book for newer bird watcher........2007-03-08
We found your book to be full of beautiful bird pictures and good information. A excellent book especially for the newer back yard bird watcher. An excellent addition and tool for anyones library. A beautiful gift.
Great pictures, information, poor selection of birds.......2007-01-23
I purchased this book for myself and our children to aid us in identifying the birds that are visiting our southern Arizona feeders. Unfortunately I found many of the birds we see were missing from this guide. It's got fantastic pictures, and excellent full page details on each bird which IS included, such as song, nesting habits and duration. I was very impressed with the guides on how to make your own birdfeeders of various types as well as the helpful guide in the back regarding landscaping for birds. Unfortunately, because it's not a regional book, it is proving to be less useful than I hoped. It's a great book to start with, but I think many birdwatchers, even casual ones like myself, will quickly wish for a more comprehensive guide.
Great book, informative on many levels.......2006-12-15
I am new to birdwatching and purchased this book along with Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. The Sibley guide covers more birds, but the Audubon has all of the common ones that I see in my yard, and has actual photos of the book as opposed to the drawings in the Sibley guide. I find that I refer to both of them frequently, however the Audubon book is one that you can sit down and read, whereas the Sibley one is a true field guide with just a paragraph on each type of bird. The Audobon book is a great starter book, and not only contains information on particular bird species, but also has great information on bird behavior and things you can do to encourge more visitors to your yard. I have enjoyed this book so much I just purchased it as a Christmas gift for my sister who is new to birdwatching also.
excellant book for the money.......2006-08-12
Well illustrated, informative,helpful,perfectly priced.I recomend this book to amateurs and veterans of this hobby, this is a beautiful book easily worth the money.
YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THIS ONE.......2006-06-23
I have been a rather serious birder for well over fifty years now and when I first saw this book (it was a gift) I almost felt insulted...back yard birder indeed! Well, I was wrong...I admit it. I have actually enjoyed this one far more that several of the many hundred or so more technical books on the subject that inhabit my shelves. This is a wonderful quick reference and is quite well organized. I have interested grandchildern and I not when they are here, which is almost daily, they reach for this volume far more than any of the others. Sharing my passion and hobby with them is great and this work is a wonderful help tool. Recommend it highly.
Book Description
In this new book noted grass expert and advocate Rick Darke addresses both the aesthetic qualities of grasses in private gardens and the opportunities and challenges of using them in wild and constructed public landscapes. All the true grasses, sedges, rushes, restios, and cattails that possess ornamental merit or that can contribute to ecological plantings are described, and practical matters of propagation, growth, and maintenance are also covered. More than 1000 stunning photographs show details of individual plants and hundreds of gardens and landscapes in which grasses play a prominent part. This worthy successor to The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses is a new type of design reference that sets a standard for inspired, sustainable use of grasses.
Customer Reviews:
The best ornamental grass book ever.......2007-08-23
This book is the bible of all ornamental grasses, great pictures for referance and identifacation of grass plants !!!!!!!!!!
Interesting and encyclopedic.......2007-07-05
In depth, beautifully photographed and written by someone who obviously cares a great deal about the subject. Great for reference -- also great just to peruse.
Beautiful book.......2007-06-10
Beautifully illustrated book and so specific. I had a hard time getting used to the detail because most books give you just a paragraph on the grass and very little on care, etc.
It's everything you want to know about Ornamental Grasses and more. Very, very complete reference source. Maybe be a bit too much for a average gardener, but if you love grasses and gardening -- this is an excellent book.
Book Description
Introducing a revolutionary new approach to detail design in landscape architecture
In this groundbreaking book, Niall Kirkwood of the Harvard Graduate School of Design takes a fresh,holistic approach to the theories, approaches, and practices of landscape detail. With the support of a wealth of graphic and written material taken from historic and contemporary landscape designwork, he clearly demonstrates the role that landscape detail plays in the design process. Going beyond theoretical considerations, Professor Kirkwood outlines landscape detail as a primary design activity, both pragmatic and poetic, using a range of built landscape design examples.
A valuable resource for professionals and students in landscape architecture, architecture, urban design, and environmental design, The Art of Landscape Detail:
* Provides a practical introduction to the aesthetic concerns, form, language, and expression of landscape detail
* Explores a wide range of detail issues-including materials, climate, durability, implementation, and failure-and their influence on the overall detail design process
* Examines detail design processes and research approaches that designers can apply in the analysis and development of their own work
* Contains in-depth case studies of eight award-winning landscape architecture design projects, including provocative discussions with the designers on the establishment and evolution of their detail design philosophy
* Features more than 150 images illustrating forms and site detail from national and international built landscapes
Customer Reviews:
LAM REVIEW.......2001-02-17
"The lexicon of landscape architectural design literature has a wonderful new addition in The Art of Landscape Detail.......with this book, the critical literature of the field has taken another solid step forward" Deborah Dalton, ASLA Landscape Architecture Magazine, February 2000
Book Description
Acclaimed furniture designer George Nakashima (1905-1990) made boldly original pieces prized for their superb craftsmanship and their organic use of the natural lines and grain of wood. Today his beautiful creations are avidly sought by private collectors and are housed in museum collections all over the world. This survey of Nakashima's life and work-written by his daughter, the noted designer Mira Nakashima-is the most revealing look we have ever had at this woodworking genius and his profound influence on contemporary design. Mira Nakashima chronicles not only the furniture designs for which her father was best known, but also his equally fine work as an architect. Illustrated with a wealth of photographs never before published and containing much new information from the Nakashima studio archives, Nature, Form, and Spirit is timed to coincide with the release of a full-length documentary film on Nakashima and an exhibition at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego. In exploring his personal and philosophic journey, Mira Nakashima provides a remarkable look at the development of an artist whose reverence for nature was at the heart of his creative work.
Customer Reviews:
Timless.......2007-03-13
A great book about a even greater designer,
don't over look this one.
A true master.......2007-03-09
I just marvel at the grace and dignity of George and his work. The story of his life is just as interesting as his life's work. I do home remodeling and occasionally have the chance to make a piece of custom furniture for a client. I find his accomplishments truly amazing.
A carpenter dream.......2007-01-14
This is a superb book on George Nakashima, written by his daughter. It is a good complement to "Sould of a tree" written by Nakashima himself. While "Sould of a tree" looked at the furniture, "Nature form & Spirit" starts with the life of Nakashima and how he came to design all his furniture and the houses. It is not a technical book, but it gives an interesting insight on the philosophy and thinking process behind the designs. Much more than a coffe table book, an inspiration for all woodworking lovers
Gift.......2006-03-06
This was a gift to our son. He was thrilled to receive it and will continue to enjoy it for many years to come. He is a wood worker and is interested in all sorts of books about wood working and wood workers.
A Perfect Gift.......2006-02-25
My husband has been wanting this book for a long time; it was recommended to us by an old friend of Nakashima. We've always loved his work, that which is at the Metropolitan Museum and also the arboretum library in Minneapolis, completely furnished with Nakashima's work. The book was no disappointment; we loved it. Truly he understood "the soul of a tree."
Average customer rating:
- Useful and interesting - STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- Superlative! A must have!
- A secret weapon for the energy auditor
- Everything you always wanted to know, in plain English
- Provides practical advice for avoiding pitfalls
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Energy Efficiency Manual: for everyone who uses energy, pays for utilities, designs and builds, is interested in energy conservation and the environment (Energy Efficiency Manual)
Donald R. Wulfinghoff
Manufacturer: Energy Institute Press
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ASIN: 0965792676 |
Book Description
This is the primary reference, how-to guide, and sourcebook for energy conservation. It lets you improve efficiency and save money in all types of buildings and plants, ranging from individual houses to commercial buildings to large institutions and industrial plants. It is organized around 400 logically grouped energy conservation actions, presented in language that everyone understands.
It's for everyone who uses energy, pays for utilities, manages property, operates energy systems, designs, builds, and values conservation and the environment. It's loaded with features that help you quickly find the right information for each application. "Ratings" and "Selection Scorecards" identify your best conservation opportunities. "Traps & Tricks" ensure success. "Economics" estimate savings and costs. It has been acclaimed by professional and non-technical users. Publishers Weekly says it "answers just about any question [from] homeowner, plant manager, energy policy guru ... as practically useful as it is informative." 830 photographs and drawings illustrate the methods. Hundreds of examples give you a feel for real applications. A complete index makes it easy to find every topic and term.
Customer Reviews:
Useful and interesting - STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.......2005-02-08
Despite the intimidating name and size of this tome, I found it fascinating to read. It covers everything from light bulb selection to rooftop chiller maintenance. The depth and breath of coverage is amazing.
This is not a hippie guide to backwoods eco-conservation. It is a practical manual, firmly grounded in science and economics that explains different strategies for maximizing comfort while minimizing energy use. In every case, the author examines both the pros and cons of the measure, and calculates the expected payback term. It is so helpful to have a book that is realistic in its treatment of energy conservation. Lots of books outline promising energy saving techniques, none I've read before talk so frankly about the problems you will encounter when you implement them.
Quite technical in many places, the text excels at explaining important concepts that are often ignored in other texts. I have a background in physics, but not until reading this book did I have a good grasp of the operation of absorption coolers or how the spectrum of a light bulb affects the visual comfort of the scene it illuminates. The concise overview of heat transfer mechanisms is more thorough than any thermodynamics textbook I've ever read.
Most important of all is the practical advice that is clearly based on a huge body of real experience. As the book so frequently points out, energy saving measures are useless if they break or are defeated by building occupants. Hundreds of (non-obvious) examples of these failures are given, with pictures.
This book would be great for anyone with responsibility for designing or maintaining buildings of any size. If you are hesitant to pay the high price, find it at a local library. I don't write many Amazon reviews, but after reading this book I felt compelled to strongly recommend it.
Superlative! A must have!.......2003-12-08
Superlative! The ENERGY EFFICIENCY MANUAL by Donald Wulfinghoff is a "must have" for professionals, libraries, facility managers, policy makers, homeowners, and anyone else who is serious about saving energy and cashing in on lower energy bills. It is the ultimate energy saving resource for businesses, industry, and government. PLUS, it will save money and reduce pollution, satisfying corporate bottom lines, policy makers, and environmentalists all at the same time. This book is unique. Highly informative, illustration-rich, and user-friendly, it is treasure trove of everything you need to know about energy efficiency from A to Z. Don't bother looking elsewhere -- the ENERGY EFFICIENCY MANUAL simply has it all. This book will pay for itself almost as fast as you can spot a hot air leak or install an energy-efficient light bulb!
-- Amy Vickers
A secret weapon for the energy auditor.......2003-07-01
As an energy auditor I'd almost call the Energy Efficiency Manual a secret weapon, except it has so many good ideas that I can't help but show it to many of the customers and prospective customers I meet. The diagrams are very useful, as is the self contained but well cross-referenced way in which each improvement measure has been written. For example, talking to the maintenance manager of a hospital, we looked at the diagrams of hot/cold deck multi-zone systems while discussing the pros and cons of upgrading a constant volume air conditioning system to a variable volume system. It is by far the most useful book on energy management that I have ever read (well, in the case of the Energy Efficiency Manual, that I have partially read - its an enormously large book!), and the ratings of each of the measures are particularly useful, along with the practical, no-nonsense approach. The book is extremely well cross referenced and Wulfinghoff has covered an enormous body of knowledge in writing the book. As someone fairly new to the field I'm grateful that he went to the effort of documenting and making available his knowledge and 30 odd years experience in the Energy Efficiency Manual.
Everything you always wanted to know, in plain English.......2001-04-25
I nodded my head in agreement while reading Wulfinghoff's philosophy about energy savings in commercial and light industrial facilities. He distills 20+ years of experience in this field with practical, no-nonsense how-tos to gain energy and dollar savings in a wide variety of facilities and end-uses: lighting, water use, steam systems, space heating, water heating, air conditioning, scheduling, pumps, energy management controls: its all here in a well-written, well-illustrated book.
Perhaps best of all, the author goes beyond theoretical considerations of high-tech efficiency products, with precautions of what works and what might fall short. He also reminds facility managers to be mindful of the human factors that can foil our best efforts. He offers suggestions on how to plan and manage efficiency upgrades complete with information for building operators and occupants, so that the savings persist.
Highly recommended for anyone managing energy use in facilities, ranging from individual buildings to college campuses to government facilities. [I am a local government energy manager myself.]
Provides practical advice for avoiding pitfalls.......2001-02-04
Donald Wulfinghoff's Energy Efficiency Manual is a massive, 1,536-page reference work that is organized to guide the reader quickly to the right information for their particular energy project, problem, or inquiry. The first part of this "user friend" manual has 400 logically grouped activities for improving energy efficiency. each activity begins with Ratings and a Selection Scorecard to help the reader judge the merits and difficulties of that particular activity. "Economics" sidebars estimates the savings, cost, and payback period. The "Traps & Tricks" sidebars provides practical advice for avoiding pitfalls plaguing energy conservation efforts. Energy Efficiency Manual will earn back its cover price over and over again and is an essential, core reference for personal, professional, and community library energy conservation and energy efficiency reference book collections.
Average customer rating:
- Too Long and Overpriced
- la correcta dimension de la sostenibilidad
- not as good as i expected
- A must read for Landscape Architects
- Significant Book for Architects - Though a Little Slow
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Design with Nature (Wiley Series in Sustainable Design)
Ian L. McHarg
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Site Planning - 3rd Edition
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The Image of the City
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Ecological Design
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Site Engineering for Landscape Architects
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Site Analysis: Linking Program and Concept in Land Planning and Design
ASIN: 047111460X |
Book Description
"In presenting us with a vision of organic exuberance and human delight, which ecology and ecological design promise to open up for us, McHarg revives the hope for a better world." âLewis Mumford
". . . important to America and all the rest of the world in our struggle to design rational, wholesome, and productive landscapes." âLaurie Olin, Hanna Olin, Ltd.
"This century's most influential landscape architecture book." âLandscape Architecture
". . . an enduring contribution to the technical literature of landscape planning and to that unfortunately small collection of writings which speak with emotional eloquence of the importance of ecological principles in regional planning." âLandscape and Urban Planning
In the twenty-five years since it first took the academic world by storm, Design With Nature has done much to redefine the fields of landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, and ecological design. It has also left a permanent mark on the ongoing discussion of mankind's place in nature and nature's place in mankind within the physical sciences and humanities. Described by one enthusiastic reviewer as a "user's manual for our world," Design With Nature offers a practical blueprint for a new, healthier relationship between the built environment and nature. In so doing, it provides nothing less than the scientific, technical, and philosophical foundations for a mature civilization that will, as Lewis Mumford ecstatically put it in his Introduction to the 1969 edition, "replace the polluted, bulldozed, machine-dominated, dehumanized, explosion-threatened world that is even now disintegrating and disappearing before our eyes."
Customer Reviews:
Too Long and Overpriced.......2007-08-23
As a former colleague of McHarg's at the University of Pennsylvania during the 1960's, and currently working in a planned community he designed (The Woodlands, TX), I decided to buy this book to try to understand the strange idiosyncracies of The Woodlands, TX.
The book is very wordy, but it is well illustrated. McHarg successfully blended community design with natural boundary conditions (watershed management, geology, forestry, slope properties, etc) with the case histories he presented (some of which I remember when serving on an invited basis on jury's in McHarg's academic program). The book's strength is his advocacy of melding human planning needs with nature's boundary conditions.
BUT, does it really work? Only at the expense of the time of people working and living in such a planned community. The inconvenient practices that go with such a planned community require a lot of adjustment that asks a bit much of people who work in such places but don't live there.
But it works fine for the affluent and the unhurried who can afford it.
la correcta dimension de la sostenibilidad.......2007-06-15
No has estudiado arquitectura si este libro no ha caido en tus manos. Sin Ian Mcharg la arquitectura sostenible no seria posible. Por lo menos la arquitectura sostenible pensada a escala regional."
not as good as i expected.......2003-11-02
this highly recommended book started out as a compelling read, but became something i had to force myself to finish. it seems to be a series of lectures strung together, which may have been interesting as lectures, but is not cohesive enough to be a book. the good information is lost amidst the rambling style.
A must read for Landscape Architects.......2002-08-08
Anyone studying environmental planning or LA should read this book.
Significant Book for Architects - Though a Little Slow.......2002-01-30
While it's not the kind of book you want to lounge around the fireplace reading, it is a book that is frequently referred to by architects. It is significant in designing and ecologially friendly building in today's built-up environment. Summary: Not a great book, but a useful resource for architects.
Book Description
This book describes how understanding the structure of reality leads to the Theory of Everything Equation. The equation unifies the forces of nature and enables the merging of relativity with quantum theory. The book explains the big bang theory and everything else.
Customer Reviews:
The Real Deal.......2006-09-25
Although Mr. Wheatley is a little verbose in sections, his documentation of Zen Buddhistic Principles found throughout the disciplines of Mathematics, Physics, Theology, etc. forms a nice reference guide for anyone tuned into that wavelength. In particular, his explanation of how Godel's Theorem and Cantor's "Confusion" shed great light on the difference between GOD's Logic and Man's Logic should be a revelation to any undergraduate level math students who encounter these ideas for the first time. Curiously, Mr. Wheatley makes many misstatements about both Zen Buddhism Principles and the Bible, however. For example, by accepting the false biblical teaching of Original Sin, he misses the point that eating the proverbial apple gave Adam and Eve the ability to make Moral Discernments in fulfillment of GOD'S PERFECT PLAN. As proof, read Genesis 1 which states that Man and Woman were made in GOD's Image. Genesis 4 shows that Adam and Eve weren't the first humans on Earth at all, there were plenty of others by then. The allegorical meaning of the story of Eden, then, isn't that Adam and Eve were the first humans on Earth, but they were the first humans with the ability to make Moral Discernments (in GOD's Image). In fact, Moral Discernment is God's Unique Gift to Man, which is the basis of consciousness, not some Math Formula. But because the wages of the resulting, unavoidable sin are Death, many people foolishly try to return to Eden by: (1) living a sinless Life (2) by removing choice altogether by passing and enforcing strict Laws (3) by attempting to do away with Moral Discernment and the resulting consequences for our actions altogether by trying to remove Shame from Shameful actions. GOD is not some ethereal Man-In-Space, but is simply the Totality of all Real Things, The Set of All Real Sets. GOD's Love manifests itself from the amazing sub-atomic relationships that underly this magic Life all the way to the grandest of Macroscopic Scales, the Interconnected Totality itself. The Zen Buddhism connection can be found by simply superimposing the 0 symbol and the symbol for infinity (8 on its side) in Mr. Wheatley's supposedly "new" formulation that 1 = 0 x infinity. Superimposing them gives you the yin-yang symbol. A potential disadvantage of artificially separating the infinity from the zero, however, is that Mr. Wheatley is able to equate the entire expression to be equal to 1. This potentially might obscure the fact that the deepest meaning of the yin-yang symbol is that it is both 2 and 1 AT THE SAME TIME. His overall equation does preserve that important meaning by utilizing a single element on one side of the equation and two elements on the other side of his final TOE equation. This may be hard to see for some at first, however, which could potentially obscure the richest meaning of this beautiful symbol/equation. A much more GODLY TOE, in my opinion, comes from Euler, who discovered that e ^ (i * pi) - 1 = 0. When someone can explain that relationship, then they can say they know GOD.
A life changing experience??.......2005-06-13
This book is an easy read and does succeed in being somewhat thought-provoking. However, I am a little surprised at the awesome, "life changing" experience it apparently was for many of the readers. Wheatley's conclusions were interesting but nothing really new. All of his material should have passed through the mind of any thinking person without the aid of this book.
The reason I gave this book three stars is because he uses unneccessarily wordy ways of describing simple things. Also, the author and many other reviewers insist that Wheatley makes only one assumption. Wrong-his whole theory is one big assumption.
Overall though it was a very interesting and worthy book.
Should be Required Reading for everyone.......2004-06-26
This book will change your life. You will never think the same way you did before reading it.
I have a degree in chemistry and I think this book should be read by everyone in the sciences. Without a doubt, the best book I've ever read. Why and what are two of our best friends
A Very Important Book.......2004-01-26
I must preface my review by stating that I have never been so excited and moved by a book that I have wanted to contact the author. That is what I found myself doing upon reading this book. This book is just what its title says. The author does not "miss a beat" describing in great detail using practically every aspect of scientific knowledge from atomic structure through logic to quantum theory---we are even given a valuable explanation of Love. This text may be challenging to read for those unfamiliar with scientific terminology. And it can also be difficult for those with a science background, such as myself. However, for me it is well worth the work necessary to strive to understand the unfamiliar terminology. (I am continually learning from this book. I am presently on my third reread).
One of the author's main messages is "not" to believe anything without first verifying it with reality, as we know it. He calls it the "Personal Explanation Principle". He indicates that religions are just such belief systems that we as people "fall" victims of; because we do not verify the beliefs with the facts, as we know them, of reality. He gives a very detailed explanation of how the New Testament can be explored using his methodology.
The author methodically and meticulously walks us through his thought processes, which took 30 years to assimilate, of delineating the structure of reality and the nature of consciousness. Included in the "walk" are many of reality's phenomena made revelatory. An example of that, for me, would be the dual nature of light. It's particle/wave duality, which is explained as "functions". Also, when the author took me on the mental journey of "Setness" an exhilaration of the magnificence of life swelled up in me.
To me this is a very important book that should be read by all that are seekers of truth. It is for all those wanting to gain an understanding of the purpose for their existence, wanting to know where life is headed towards, and wanting to know who God is.
This book will enlighten and develop one's mind substantially. You will discover that this is our objective.
And yes, I contacted the author and he responded openly.
Illuminating!!!.......2002-12-30
This is a really great book. It combines philosophy and science in order to tackle a multitude of existential problems. The author's style of writing is fresh and alive, I recommend ths book to anyone interested in expanding the fronteirs of their understanding. Books I also liked are a Universe in an Nutshell by Steven Hawkings and Descent into Illusions by Paul Omeziri.
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