Portland Public Library

The Carbon Buster's home energy handbook, slowing climate change and saving money, Godo Stoyke

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The Carbon Buster's home energy handbook

bibliography

77380134

Godo Stoyke

slowing climate change and saving money

Most people are unaware that environmental problems such as climate change can be easily avoided, at a profit, through the intelligent application of appropriate technology. The Carbon Buster's Handbook describes how to achieve this goal in the residential field. The handbook reveals North Americaʼs best-kept investment secret: that the highest rates of return can be found not at your bank, but in your home! Environmental problems such as climate change can be easily avoided, at a profit, through the intelligent application of appropriate technology. The first book in North America to provide a detailed carbon accounting of a familyʼs carbon emissions and how to reduce them, it systematically analyzes energy costs and evaluates which measures yield the highest returns for the environment and the pocketbook. It provides answers to questions such as: Which measure is more effective: putting solar panels on your roof, or buying a hybrid car? Where do I need to invest first: in high-efficiency shower-heads, or solar tubes? Is a 500 dollar fridge that uses 800 kWh of power per year a good buy? The book allows individuals to quickly and accurately assess which products are a good deal and which arenʼt. It systematically analyzes residential carbon emissions and energy costs and prioritizes solutions based on highest carbon reductions and monetary returns, yielding results that are often surprisingWhile government savings bonds may yield a financial return of around 5% per annum, and pension funds in 2005 yielded 11%, the Carbon-Buster strategies described in this book have an average annual return of 32%. The book enables readers to dramatically reduce their carbon emissions - far below the levels targeted under the Kyoto Protocol. At the same time, readers implementing the recommendations will save an average of US 15,000 dollars in energy costs over the next five years

Chapter 1.Carbon Busting for Fun and Profit -- Chapter 2.Conventions and Assumptions -- Assumptions and Methodology -- Correcting for Savings -- Interactions -- Conventions -- Sources of Information -- Interpreting Savings Figures -- Chapter 3.For Busy People: Top Recommendations at a Glance -- From Carbon Miser to Carbon Buster -- Chapter 4.Your Familyʼs Carbon Pie -- Interpreting Home -- Consumption Graphs -- Electricity: The Most -- Expensive Form of Energy -- Whatʼs the Carbon Balance? -- How to Benefit from Fuel Switching -- Your Homeʼs Carbon Pie -- How Much Does It Cost? -- Chapter 5.Home Improvement: Green Home Design -- The Law of Diminishing Returns -- Tunneling Through the Cost Barrier -- Whole System Design -- Chapter 6.Green Transportation -- Efficiency Comparisons -- Bicycling -- Public Transit -- Cars -- Chapter 7.Electric Power -- Your Homeʼs Power Bill -- Lighting -- Power Vampires -- Refrigerators -- Freezers -- Dishwashers -- Cooking -- Solar Ovens -- Clothes Washers -- Dryers -- Computers and Home Office Equipment -- Entertainment Electronics -- Green Power -- Renewable Energy Sources: Making your Own Green Power -- Chapter 8.Green Heating -- Solar Design -- Weatherproofing -- Insulation -- Windows -- Energy-Efficient Landscaping -- Your Furnace -- Fireplaces -- Wood Stoves -- Geothermal -- Domestic Hot Water-- Chapter 9 - Cooling -- Green Coolth - Passive -- Solar Design -- Cheap Cooling Strategies -- Technological Solutions -- Chapter 10 - Liquid Assets -- Where Does All the Water Go? -- Toilets -- Showers -- Baths -- Yard Water Usage -- Chapter 11 - Environmental -- Goods and Services -- Sustainable Wood -- Food -- Recycled Products/Recycled -- Paper -- Organic Flowers -- Protecting Nature at Home -- Green Mortgages -- Chapter 12 - Putting It All Together -- Financial Cost and Gain -- Rising Energy Prices, Falling Efficiency Costs -- Environmental Gains -- The Kyoto Protocol -- Share Your Success Stories! -- Appendix A: -- Top Carbon Buster Measures -- Appendix B: -- Highest Carbon Return on Investment (CROI) in lbs. Saved per

Home energy handbook