The New Net Zero

The New Net Zero
Author: Bill Maclay
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Total Pages: 578
Release: 2014
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 160358448X

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The new threshold for green building is not just low energy, it's net-zero energy. In The New Net Zero, sustainable architect Bill Maclay charts the path for designers and builders interested in exploring green design's new-frontier net-zero-energy structures that produce as much energy as they consume and are carbon neutral. In a nation where traditional buildings use roughly 40 percent of the total fossil energy, the interest in net-zero building is growing enormously--among both designers interested in addressing climate change and consumers interested in energy efficiency and long-term savings. Maclay, an award-winning net-zero designer whose buildings have achieved high-performance goals at affordable costs, makes the case for a net-zero future; explains net-zero building metrics, integrated design practices, and renewable energy options; and shares his lessons learned on net-zero teambuilding. Designers and builders will find a wealth of state-of-the-art information on such considerations as air, water, and vapor barriers; embodied energy; residential and commercial net-zero standards; monitoring and commissioning; insulation options; costs; and more. The comprehensive overview is accompanied by several case studies, which include institutional buildings, commercial projects, and residences. Both new-building and renovation projects are covered in detail. The New Net Zero is geared toward professionals exploring net-zero design, but also suitable for nonprofessionals seeking ideas and strategies on net-zero options that are beautiful and renewably powered.

When Trucks Stop Running

When Trucks Stop Running
Author: A.J. Friedemann
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2015-12-09
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3319263757

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In lively and engaging language, this book describes our dependence on freight transport and its vulnerability to diminishing supplies and high prices of oil. Ships, trucks, and trains are the backbone of civilization, hauling the goods that fulfill our every need and desire. Their powerful, highly-efficient diesel combustion engines are exquisitely fine-tuned to burn petroleum-based diesel fuel. These engines and the fuels that fire them have been among the most transformative yet disruptive technologies on the planet. Although this transportation revolution has allowed many of us to fill our homes with global goods even a past emperor would envy, our era of abundance, and the freight transport system in particular, is predicated on the affordability and high energy density of a single fuel, oil. This book explores alternatives to this finite resource including other liquid fuels, truck and locomotive batteries and utility-scale energy storage technology, and various forms of renewable electricity to support electrified transport. Transportation also must adapt to other challenges: Threats from climate change, financial busts, supply-chain failure, and transportation infrastructure decay. Robert Hirsch, who wrote the “Peaking of World Oil Production” report for the U.S. Department of Energy in 2005, said that planning for peak world production must start at least 10, if not 20 years ahead of time. What little planning exists focuses mainly on how to accommodate 30 percent more economic growth while averting climate change, ignoring the possibility that we are at, or near, the end of growth. Taken for granted, the modern transportation system will not endure forever. The time is now to take a realistic and critical look at the choices ahead, and how the future of transportation may unfold.

Our Renewable Future

Our Renewable Future
Author: Richard Heinberg
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2016-06-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1610917790

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"Over the next few decades, we will see a profound energy transformation as society shifts from fossil fuels to renewable resources like solar, wind, biomass. But what might a one hundred percent renewable future actually look like, and what obstacles will we face in this transition? Authors explore the practical challenges and opportunities presented by the shift to renewable energy."--Page 4 of cover.

Power after Carbon

Power after Carbon
Author: Peter Fox-Penner
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2020-05-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0674245628

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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.

Buildings of the Future

Buildings of the Future
Author: Angela Royston
Publisher: Capstone Classroom
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2008
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781432901318

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Find out inside: What is a wind-catcher? How will hydrogen heat our homes in future? What are the pros and cons of carbon offsetting? Buildings of the Future takes a look at how new buildings will be designed to use less energy, as well as how older buildings can be adapted to be more energy efficient. The book also explores ways of conserving energy in the present: in homes, schools, and workplaces.

Emerging Research in Sustainable Energy and Buildings for a Low-Carbon Future

Emerging Research in Sustainable Energy and Buildings for a Low-Carbon Future
Author: Robert J. Howlett
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2021-02-06
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9811587752

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This book contains an introduction and 20 studies, each describing a recent research investigation in the area of sustainable and resilient buildings, built environment infrastructure and renewable energy. Contributions are from many different countries of the world and on a range of topics, representing a sample of research within the ‘sustainable energy and buildings’ field. The book begins with chapters on the sustainable design of buildings, followed by descriptions of issues relating to the renovation, restoration and reconstruction of existing buildings, or in one case a railway wagon. The next part of the book covers factors that form barriers or impediments to low or zero carbon buildings, followed by studies of issues relating to policy and certification. There then follow four chapters on various topics related to sustainable buildings – undergraduate courses, insurance issues, biophilia relating to buildings and thermal conductivity measurement. There are several chapters relating to renewable energy, followed by two chapters with a sustainable transport theme, one relating to electric vehicles, and the other about a sustainable road infrastructure. The final chapter is on the manufacture of sustainable building components for the UK housing sector. The book is of use to engineers, scientists, researchers, practitioners, academics and all those who are interested to develop and use sustainability science and technology for the betterment of our planet and humankind, and to mitigate climate change reality.

Sustainable Buildings and Infrastructure

Sustainable Buildings and Infrastructure
Author: Annie R. Pearce
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 642
Release: 2013-07-03
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1136475281

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Construction is one of the biggest industries in the world, providing necessary facilities for human prosperity ranging from the homes in which we live to the highways we drive, the power plants that provide energy for our daily activities, and the very infrastructure on which human society is built. The construction sector, including the building sector, has among the largest potential of any industry to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This ambitious and comprehensive textbook covers the concept of embedding sustainability across all construction activities. It is aimed at students taking courses in construction management and the built environment. Written in a lively and engaging style the book sets out the practical requirements of making the transition to a sustainable construction industry by 2020. Case studies are included throughout making the book both a core reference and a practical guide.

Three Revolutions

Three Revolutions
Author: Daniel Sperling
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2018-03
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 161091905X

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Front Cover -- About Island Press -- Subscribe -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Will the Transportation Revolutions Improve Our Lives-- or Make Them Worse? -- 2. Electric Vehicles: Approaching the Tipping Point -- 3. Shared Mobility: The Potential of Ridehailing and Pooling -- 4. Vehicle Automation: Our Best Shot at a Transportation Do-Over? -- 5. Upgrading Transit for the Twenty-First Century -- 6. Bridging the Gap between Mobility Haves and Have-Nots -- 7. Remaking the Auto Industry -- 8. The Dark Horse: Will China Win the Electric, Automated, Shared Mobility Race? -- Epilogue -- Notes -- About the Contributors -- Index -- IP Board of Directors

Net Zero Energy Building

Net Zero Energy Building
Author: Ming Hu
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2019-03-25
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1351256513

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What do we mean by net zero energy? Zero operating energy? Zero energy costs? Zero emissions? There is no one answer: approaches to net zero building vary widely across the globe and are influenced by different environmental and cultural contexts. Net Zero Energy Building: Predicted and Unintended Consequences presents a comprehensive overview of variations in 'net zero' building practices. Drawing on examples from countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, and China, Ming Hu examines diverse approaches to net zero and reveals their intended and unintended consequences. Existing approaches often focus on operating energy: how to make buildings more efficient by reducing the energy consumed by climate control, lighting, and appliances. Hu goes beyond this by analyzing overall energy consumption and environmental impact across the entire life cycle of a building—ranging from the manufacture of building materials to transportation, renovation, and demolition. Is net zero building still achievable once we look at these factors? With clear implications for future practice, this is key reading for professionals in building design, architecture, and construction, as well as students on sustainable and green architecture courses.