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Eco-Renovation: The Ecological Home Improvement Guide
Offers advice on renovating a home to provide more useful space, greater energy efficiency, and a healthier environment
263 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 15, 2012
Review published in Eco Living magazine, February 2003
Eco-Renovation
The Ecological Home Improvement Guide
By Edward Harland
(Green Books in association with the Ecology Building Society, revised edition 1998, $?)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
There are several books out now on eco-friendly building. This one focuses on renovation (generally more eco-friendly than building from scratch), but would still be worth reading if you're planning to build.
Eco-Renovation makes you look at home improvement in a new way. For example, do you really need to extend your house? Or could you convert existing space eg attic or stairwell, into useable areas? It shows that improving your home environment can be as simple as getting some spider plants to absorb toxins.
The book is divided into four parts: space, energy, health, and materials. The space chapter looks at efficient and appropriate use of space. Common sense tips for energy efficiency and conservation abound in the energy section, which covers things like insulation, ventilation, heating and appliances. There are a few pages on solar power, but if you're keen on renewable energy you'd be better to consult other books specifically on the subject.
Eco-Renovation is English, so not everything applies for us in New Zealand. For instance, the author writes about the adverse impacts of using electricity, but the UK is reliant on fossil fuels for about 90% of its electricity, unlike here where we use mostly hydroelectricity.
People are becoming increasingly aware of the health risks associated with many modern building practices and materials. The health section covers toxins and pollutants, air and water quality, radiation, sound, and plants.
The materials section is fairly comprehensive, going through the environmental impacts of wood, stone, metals, plastics and so on. I was most interested in the list of different types of wood and the purposes they are best used for – we need to fit the wood to the purpose and avoid using toxic chemicals to treat timber.
Also detailed are the processing and ingredients of various materials such as bricks, plasters and cement. Straw bale and earth building are only mentioned briefly – remember, this is a book about renovation rather than building. The author merely touches on hemp, repeating the fallacy that industrial hemp equals marijuana.
On the whole, Eco-renovation contains lots of useful information, and serves as a detailed practical checklist for home owners.
Eco-Renovation
The Ecological Home Improvement Guide
By Edward Harland
(Green Books in association with the Ecology Building Society, revised edition 1998, $?)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
There are several books out now on eco-friendly building. This one focuses on renovation (generally more eco-friendly than building from scratch), but would still be worth reading if you're planning to build.
Eco-Renovation makes you look at home improvement in a new way. For example, do you really need to extend your house? Or could you convert existing space eg attic or stairwell, into useable areas? It shows that improving your home environment can be as simple as getting some spider plants to absorb toxins.
The book is divided into four parts: space, energy, health, and materials. The space chapter looks at efficient and appropriate use of space. Common sense tips for energy efficiency and conservation abound in the energy section, which covers things like insulation, ventilation, heating and appliances. There are a few pages on solar power, but if you're keen on renewable energy you'd be better to consult other books specifically on the subject.
Eco-Renovation is English, so not everything applies for us in New Zealand. For instance, the author writes about the adverse impacts of using electricity, but the UK is reliant on fossil fuels for about 90% of its electricity, unlike here where we use mostly hydroelectricity.
People are becoming increasingly aware of the health risks associated with many modern building practices and materials. The health section covers toxins and pollutants, air and water quality, radiation, sound, and plants.
The materials section is fairly comprehensive, going through the environmental impacts of wood, stone, metals, plastics and so on. I was most interested in the list of different types of wood and the purposes they are best used for – we need to fit the wood to the purpose and avoid using toxic chemicals to treat timber.
Also detailed are the processing and ingredients of various materials such as bricks, plasters and cement. Straw bale and earth building are only mentioned briefly – remember, this is a book about renovation rather than building. The author merely touches on hemp, repeating the fallacy that industrial hemp equals marijuana.
On the whole, Eco-renovation contains lots of useful information, and serves as a detailed practical checklist for home owners.
Displaying 1 of 1 review