Download or read book Prefabulous Almost Off the Grid written by Sheri Koones and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2012-11-15 with total page 1183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A beautiful, user-friendly overview to building more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly homes using prefabrication. Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid explores the many ways of using prefabrication to build beautiful homes that are not only environmentally friendly, but also incredibly energy efficient. Profiling more than thirty of the most energy-efficient homes in the United States, this user-friendly guide reveals how homebuilders can achieve similar results—whether they want to earn an advanced green certification or just incorporate a few energy-saving measures—with the help of floor plans, detailed resource lists, explanations of the latest technologies, and brilliant photographs. Author Sheri Koones shows that building green doesn’t have to be more expensive, and in fact, can lead to dramatic savings. Koones’s almost-off-the-grid homes, which take energy from the grid when necessary and return any excess energy produced, are healthier, quieter inside, and far cheaper to operate. As energy costs continue to rise, energy independence is becoming increasingly essential, and as this guide shows, the almost-off-the-grid home is a solution that is achievable for everyone. Recipient of the 2013 Robert Bruss Gold Book Award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) Praise for Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid “The time has come to throw out the old stereotypes and to embrace prefab building techniques as the way of the future?and the best approach for today. For anyone wanting to create a house that’s sustainable in every sense of the word, this book is an excellent place to start.” —Sarah Susanka, architect and author of The Not So Big House series “You can build a high quality, environmentally friendly and efficient home at a reasonable price with a look and feel of a traditional home. Advancements like those used in our house and the other houses in this book will transform the homebuilding industry.” —Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency “This is an easy-on-the-eyes guide that includes floor plans and multiple images of the exterior and interior of each home. It is not a manual for green construction, but a general overview of aspects of prefab and green construction. And it does that well.” —Natural Life magazine

Download or read book How to Build with Grid Beam written by Phil Jergenson and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2008-06-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Build almost anything!

Download or read book Power after Carbon written by Peter Fox-Penner and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2020-05-19 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the electric power industry faces the challenges of climate change, technological disruption, new market imperatives, and changing policies, a renowned energy expert offers a roadmap to the future of this essential sector. As the damaging and costly impacts of climate change increase, the rapid development of sustainable energy has taken on great urgency. The electricity industry has responded with necessary but wrenching shifts toward renewables, even as it faces unprecedented challenges and disruption brought on by new technologies, new competitors, and policy changes. The result is a collision course between a grid that must provide abundant, secure, flexible, and affordable power, and an industry facing enormous demands for power and rapid, systemic change. The fashionable solution is to think small: smart buildings, small-scale renewables, and locally distributed green energy. But Peter Fox-Penner makes clear that these will not be enough to meet our increasing needs for electricity. He points instead to the indispensability of large power systems, battery storage, and scalable carbon-free power technologies, along with the grids and markets that will integrate them. The electric power industry and its regulators will have to provide all of these, even as they grapple with changing business models for local electric utilities, political instability, and technological change. Power after Carbon makes sense of all the moving parts, providing actionable recommendations for anyone involved with or relying on the electric power system.

Download or read book Freeing Energy How Innovators Are Using Local scale Solar and Batteries to Disrupt the Global Energy Industry from the Outside In written by Bill Nussey and published by Mountain Ambler Publishing. This book was released on 2021-11-05 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The transition to clean energy is moving far too slowly. Trapped by a century of fossil fuel investments and politicians that struggle to plan beyond the next election, the "Big Grid" that powers our modern world is outdated and in dire need of an upgrade. Freeing Energy offers a new and faster path towards a clean energy future-one that is more reliable, more equitable, and cheaper. Just like personal computers eclipsed mainframes, millions of solar rooftops and small battery systems are challenging every assumption about our century-old, centralized electric grid. These small-scale "local energy" systems are deeply disruptive because they are based on fast-moving technologies, not fuels. Driven by a new generation of innovators and genuinely competitive markets, smaller systems are faster to build, easier to finance, cleaner to operate, and they create far more jobs than large-scale projects. Bill Nussey takes readers to mud huts in Africa, an off-grid farm in California, and a rural school in the mountains of Puerto Rico to uncover the underlying patterns of technology and the business model innovations of the local energy revolution. He shares stories and insights from some of the industry's brightest visionaries and from leaders of the most cutting-edge startups, bringing it all together into an actionable framework to help accelerate this transition. Freeing Energy is a deeply researched, actionable guide for anyone that cares about the future of energy-from startups, policymakers, investors, and utility leaders to the families and communities that want cleaner, cheaper energy today.

Download or read book Gridiron written by Philip Kerr and published by Random House. This book was released on 1996 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ray Richardson, a brilliant architechnologist, has created The Gridiron in the heart of LA. Every aspect of the building is controlled by an intricate computer system, but after two bizarre deaths, on the eve of the official opening, the computer reveals itself as set to destroy its creators.

Download or read book Variable Renewable Energy and the Electricity Grid written by Jay Apt and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-13 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The integration of renewable energy resources into the electricity grid presents an important challenge. This book provides a review and analysis of the technical and policy options available for managing variable energy resources such as wind and solar power. As well as being of value to government and industry policy-makers and planners, the volume also provides a single source for scientists and engineers of the technical knowledge gained during the 4-year RenewElec (renewable electricity) project at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Vermont, Vermont Law School, and the Van Ness Feldman environmental law firm. The first part of the book discusses the options for large scale integration of variable electric power generation, including issues of predictability, variability, and efficiency. The second part presents the scientific findings of the project. In the final part, the authors undertake a critical review of major quantitative regional and national wind integration studies in the United States. Based on comparisons among these studies, they suggest areas where improvements in methods are warranted in future studies, areas where additional research is needed to facilitate future improvements in wind integration studies and how the research can be put into practice.

Download or read book Superpower written by Russell Gold and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Michael Skelly, the man boldly harnessing wind energy that could power America’s future and break its fossil fuel dependence in this “essential, compelling look into the future of the nation’s power grid” (Bryan Burrough, author of The Big Rich). The United States is in the midst of an energy transition. We have fallen out of love with dirty fossil fuels and want to embrace renewable energy sources like wind and solar. A transition from a North American power grid that is powered mostly by fossil fuels to one that is predominantly clean is feasible, but it would require a massive building spree—wind turbines, solar panels, wires, and billions of dollars would be needed. Enter Michael Skelly, an infrastructure builder who began working on wind energy in 2000 when many considered the industry a joke. Eight years later, Skelly helped build the second largest wind power company in the United States—and sold it for $2 billion. Wind energy was no longer funny—it was well on its way to powering more than 6% of electricity in the United States. Award-winning journalist, Russel Gold tells Skelly’s story, which in many ways is the story of our nation’s evolving relationship with renewable energy. Gold illustrates how Skelly’s company, Clean Line Energy, conceived the idea for a new power grid that would allow sunlight where abundant to light up homes in the cloudy states thousands of miles away, and take wind from the Great Plains to keep air conditioners running in Atlanta. Thrilling, provocative, and important, Superpower is a fascinating look at America’s future.

Download or read book ours Hyperlocalization of Architecture written by Andrew Michler and published by eVolo Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The evolution of contemporary environmental architecture has outstripped simple labels. A deeper pattern is emerging where the world's most innovative buildings are a response to place. They resolve the complex intertwining of the site, people and environment, providing a provocative observation of the future of architecture. By starting with the site these projects maximize the natural and cultural resources available and are humancentric. The book explores firsthand how Spain Wraps commercial buildings, Japan Condenses micro homes, and Australia Unfolds aggressive design solutions in a climate of extremes. Germany, Cascadia, Denmark, and Mexico are also featured. 30 selected projects provide the antidote to the legacy of the modernist movement of generic, technology-driven built environments. Illuminating and often surprising conversations with renowned architects on their work reveal the process and promise of hyperlocalized design which folds bold visions into low impact and unexpected buildings. Their contemporary wisdom of site responsive design offers an unprecedented insight into architecture's new place in a changing climate. [ours] Hyperlocalization of Architecture includes: Groundbreaking architecture theory Extensive interviews with world's thought leaders of environmental architecture 264 Pages 350 full-color photographs Online project index with details and multimedia at hyperlocalarch.com Interviews and Projects by: Studio 505 | PHOOEY Architects | William Mcdonough + Partners | KUD Architects | Berta Barrio Arquitectos | Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp. | Unemori Architects | Andrew Maynard Architects | Edward Mazria | Peter Busby Perkins+Will | Sean Godsell | Canvas Arquitectos | Dr. Wolfgang Feist | DesignInc | Hassell Studios | Kavellaris Urban Design | Lederer + Ragnarsdottir + Oei | Casey Brown Architecture | A.L.X. Architects | BIG | Yasuhiro Yamashita | Miller Hull | KMD Architects | MPR Design Group | Schemata Architecture | Coll-Barreu Arquitectos | Voluar Arquitecture | Durbach Block Jagger | Ramón Fernández-Alonso Arquitect "This is all based on human creativity, and the ability for us to advance and continuously improve with freedom from the remote tyranny of bad design. That's why the cultural question becomes interesting because at that point the culture can express itself in a creative way. It still has integrity because you're expressing yourself creatively within a context. Your solving for rich, local problems. All sustainability, like politics is local. It has to be." - William McDonough in [ours]

Download or read book Off Grid House Plans written by and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Off-Grid House Plans has more than 250 floor plans, sections, sketches, and elevations, as well as all the construction details in all projects. An Off-Grid system allows you to live without using a utility company, generating your own energy. A well designed system also has numerous environmental advantages, that help you to reduce your carbon footprint, providing cleaner, more sustainable energy. In the long-term it is financially viable, and also teaches us how to consume energy responsibly. These off-grid homes, which run on solar, wind, or hydro power, are just a few examples of how people are leaving the city behind for a life in the country in contact with nature.

Download or read book How to Build the Perfect Off Grid Home written by Roxyann Spanfelner and published by . This book was released on 2018-10-25 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Let The Sun Rain Down On Your Solar solidifies abstract ideas and dreams into concrete form explaining How To Build And Power A Perfect Off-Grid Home. How? Spanfelner, who built a remote off-grid home with husband Gary 9 years ago, offers practical advice to navigate the complex, perplexing process - simplifying it with step-by-step instructions.

Download or read book Off the Grid written by Phillip Vannini and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-10-30 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Off-grid isn’t a state of mind. It isn’t about someone being out of touch, about a place that is hard to get to, or about a weekend spent offline. Off-grid is the property of a building (generally a home but sometimes even a whole town) that is disconnected from the electricity and the natural gas grid. To live off-grid, therefore, means having to radically re-invent domestic life as we know it, and this is what this book is about: individuals and families who have chosen to live in that dramatically innovative, but also quite old, way of life. This ethnography explores the day-to-day lives of people in each of Canada’s provinces and territories living off the grid. Vannini and Taggart demonstrate how a variety of people, all with different environmental constraints, live away from contemporary civilization. The authors also raise important questions about our social future and whether off-grid living creates an environmentally and culturally sustainable lifestyle practice. These homes are experimental labs for our collective future, an intimate look into unusual contemporary domestic lives, and a call to the rest of us leading ordinary lives to examine what we take for granted. This book is ideal for courses on the environment and sustainability as well as introduction to sociology and introduction to cultural anthropology courses.

Download or read book Off Grid Solar written by Joseph P O'Connor and published by Old Sequoia Publishing. This book was released on 2019-08-19 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Off Grid Solar is a pocket guide and quick reference for anyone looking to build an electrical energy system using free sunshine available to us all. Are you a self-reliant builder who is ready to become energy independent? Are you an inquisitive builder who wants to know how solar energy can power your life indefinitely?

Download or read book The Grid and the Village written by Stephen Doheny-Farina and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on electric grids and tells the stories about two villages separated by time, connected by proximity, and united by the challenges of maintaining a community under duress. It provides a glimpse of what it took to build the kind of grids that made America, the grids which connect people to one another, and is told through the experiences of some of the people who sacrificed the most to build the grids.

Download or read book Off Grid and Underground written by Steve Rees and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2014-03-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a unique look into one of the most unusual building techniques - underground installation of shipping containers - finished out into a very modern, energy efficient home that has proven to be a delight to live in. Detailed how-to instructions from start to finish give the reader a real handle on how they could build this home for themselves successfully and enjoy the wonderful benefits of living underground and off the grid. A real must for those who are considering cutting the city ties and venturing out into the country to establish a successful homestead. Well worth a read!

Download or read book City on a Grid written by Gerard Koeppel and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The never-before-told story of the grid that ate Manhattan

Download or read book From the Web to the Grid and Beyond written by René Brun and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-01-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born after World War II, large-scale experimental high-energy physics (HEP) has found itself limited ever since by available accelerator, detector and computing technologies. Accordingly, HEP has made significant contributions to the development of these fields, more often than not driving their innovations. The invention of the World Wide Web at CERN is merely the best-known example out of many. This book is the first comprehensive account to trace the history of this pioneering spirit in the field of computing technologies. It covers everything up to and including the present-day handling of the huge demands imposed upon grid and distributed computing by full-scale LHC operations—operations which have for years involved many thousands of collaborating members worldwide and accordingly provide the original and natural testbed for grid computing concepts. This book takes the reader on a guided tour encompassing all relevant topics, including programming languages, software engineering, large databases, the Web, and grid- and cloud computing. The important issue of intellectual property regulations for distributed software engineering and computing is also addressed. Aptly, the book closes with a visionary chapter of what may lie ahead. Approachable and requiring only basic understanding of physics and computer sciences, this book is intended for both education and research.

Download or read book Securing the Smart Grid written by Tony Flick and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2010-11-03 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Securing the Smart Grid discusses the features of the smart grid, particularly its strengths and weaknesses, to better understand threats and attacks, and to prevent insecure deployments of smart grid technologies. A smart grid is a modernized electric grid that uses information and communications technology to be able to process information, such as the behaviors of suppliers and consumers. The book discusses different infrastructures in a smart grid, such as the automatic metering infrastructure (AMI). It also discusses the controls that consumers, device manufacturers, and utility companies can use to minimize the risk associated with the smart grid. It explains the smart grid components in detail so readers can understand how the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of these components can be secured or compromised. This book will be a valuable reference for readers who secure the networks of smart grid deployments, as well as consumers who use smart grid devices. - Details how old and new hacking techniques can be used against the grid and how to defend against them - Discusses current security initiatives and how they fall short of what is needed - Find out how hackers can use the new infrastructure against itself