Those of you aged older than 40, probably male, and with even a passing interest in motor mechanics, will have grown up familiar with Haynes manuals. The distinctive laurel leaf logo on a yellow and red striped background will bring back memories of dirty fingernails and hours spent pondering why when you have put the engine back together you still have some bits left over. But I digress. Haynes has branched out to publish an Eco-Homes Manual.
The 168 page, colour hardback provides concise up-to-date information about emerging renewable sources of power, along with the principles of eco-renovation, practical advice and step-by-step projects to improve, renovate and make over your home and garden. A wide range of subjects is covered including construction materials, insulation, heating, electricity use, water supply, waste and pollution.
There are sections to help you work out how well (or poorly) your house is insulated, and how long a wind turbine will take to pay for itself. A chapter on micro-generation outlines the grants that may be available, grid connection, building regulations and planning permission. Another section deals with gardens, which includes everything from composting to encouraging wildlife into your green space.
The chapters are well sign-posted, every page has colour photography, and most have either diagrams that explain how to overcome a particular issue, or images that pictorialise a solution to a problem. If you want to know not only the make up on concrete and its embodied CO2 levels but also alternatives to its use, you’ll find it within the pages. Interested in reducing heat loss? Read on.
The author, Nigel Griffiths, ran his own building business for 15 years, specialising in conservation and green building, and has recently project-managed a development of 12 new eco-homes in Somerset. He is a building consultant, a visiting university lecturer on sustainability, and an eco-homes assessor for the Building Research Establishment.
Griffiths’ writing is considered and explanatory; he rarely assumes that the reader has a detailed understanding of the issues or practical aspects he describes - but he doesn’t patronise. I’d say the book is pitched at the level of the enthusiastic and capable DIY-er who has had experience of undertaking small-scale projects and feels ready and willing to take on the challenges of larger eco-friendly ones.
Overall, the Eco-House Manual is well written and clearly presented, and an informative, comprehensive and practical addition to the burgeoning library of books on environmental sustainability. A constructive criticism would be that the cover design looks dated – its appearance is much like the motor manuals of yore – but others might argue that it is what sets a Haynes manual apart from the rest. They may well be right.
The Eco-House Manual: How to carry out environmentally friendly improvements to your home
Published by Haynes Publishing, July 2007. ISBN 1 84425 405 4
Hardback 168pp, 276x214mm, full colour.
Price: £19.99
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