San Antonio College Library

Life on Earth is both challenging and beautiful. Reclaiming Eden is about responsible living, engineering and architectures, aiming to mitigate environmental deterioration by reclaiming land around the world to an ecologically sustainable stage. These endeavors will enable us to pass forward a beautiful tomorrow for our grandchildren in the long run, and our children and ourselves in the immediate future. Eco-friendliness is key, and this includes...

Having weaned themselves completely from fossil fuels in their conventional 1930s urban house, Stephen and Rebekah Hren provide a map for others to do the same. Their book shows first how to reduce energy consumption, then to retrofit existing homes to obtain all heating, cooling, cooking, refrigeration, hot water, and electricity from renewable resources. The Hrens also provide advice on sustainable, low-impact methods of transportation and home...

"When Ben Hewitt and his wife bought a sprawling acreage of field and forest in northern Vermont, the landscape easily allowed them to envision the self-sustaining family farm they were eager to start. But over the years, the land became so much more than a building site; it became the birthplace of their two sons, the main source of family income and food, and ultimately, both classroom and home for their children. Having opted out of formal education,...

Like many Americans, Doug Fine enjoys his creature comforts, but he also knows full well they keep him addicted to oil. So he wonders: Is it possible to keep his Netflix and his car, his Wi-Fi and his subwoofers, and still reduce his carbon footprint? In an attempt to find out, Fine moves to a remote ranch in New Mexico, where he brazenly vows to grow his own food, use sunlight to power his world, and drive on restaurant grease. Never mind that he...

Profiles solar-powered houses that blend sustainability and beauty.

Describes how to renovate, purchase, and live in homes with environmental consciousness in mind, providing tips on increasing the energy efficiency of one's home without relinquishing aestheticism.

From the Publisher: Off the Grid Homes looks at six contemporary architectural projects that integrate alternative technologies for generating and conserving energy. Being off the grid can refer to many different aspects of energy and resource independence, from rainwater collection, to photovoltaic (PV) systems, to gray-water systems and more. Diagrams and clear explanations of technologies and their appropriate applications are provided alongside...

"This book is a comprehensive and objective guide to understanding hydrogen as a transportation fuel. The effects that pursuing different vehicle technology development paths will have on the economy, the environment, public safety and human health are presented with implications for policy makers, industrial stakeholders and researchers alike. Using hydrogen as a fuel offers a possible solution to satisfying global mobility needs, including sustainability...

This is a follow-up book to the author's Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air, which had a large influence on both government policy and public opinion of how we should plan our energy for the future. This book faces up to the impacts of making materials in the 21st century. We are already making materials well, but demand keeps growing and we need to plan for a sustainable material future. The steel and aluminium industries alone account for nearly...