• About Us
    • — About Digitized House
    • — Advertise
    • — Editorial Guidelines
  • Policies
    • — Ad Policy
    • — Privacy Policy
    • — Cookie Policy (US)
Digitized House | Guide to the Connected Home
  • Home
  • Connect Your Home
    • Deals
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Security Cameras
    • Security Systems
    • Smart Displays
    • Smart Door Locks
    • Smart Lighting
    • Smart Plugs
    • Smart Product Round-ups
    • Smart Speakers
    • Smart Thermostats
    • Smart Water
    • Smoke + CO Detectors
    • Solar Photovoltaics
    • Window Coverings
    • Connected Home and Gadget Resources
  • Ecosystems
    • Amazon Alexa
    • Apple HomeKit
    • Google Assistant
    • SmartThings
    • Open Systems
  • Design Your Home
    • Architecture
    • Healthy Home
    • Home Design
    • How-To
    • Green Building
    • Real Estate
    • Sustainable Home
No Result
View All Result
Digitized House | Guide to the Connected Home
  • Home
  • Connect Your Home
    • Deals
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Security Cameras
    • Security Systems
    • Smart Displays
    • Smart Door Locks
    • Smart Lighting
    • Smart Plugs
    • Smart Product Round-ups
    • Smart Speakers
    • Smart Thermostats
    • Smart Water
    • Smoke + CO Detectors
    • Solar Photovoltaics
    • Window Coverings
    • Connected Home and Gadget Resources
  • Ecosystems
    • Amazon Alexa
    • Apple HomeKit
    • Google Assistant
    • SmartThings
    • Open Systems
  • Design Your Home
    • Architecture
    • Healthy Home
    • Home Design
    • How-To
    • Green Building
    • Real Estate
    • Sustainable Home
No Result
View All Result
Digitized House | Guide to the Connected Home
No Result
View All Result

12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 1

Tom Kolnowski by Tom Kolnowski
7 December 2015
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Day 1: Green from the Ground Up

Day 1: Green from the Ground Up

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

It is fitting that we begin our 12 Days of Sustainable Reads series with what we consider to be the bible of sustainable home construction: Green from the Ground Up, by David Johnston and Scott Gibson. This 330-page book is subtitled as Sustainable, Healthy, and Energy-Efficient Home Construction and additionally pre-titled as A Builder’s Guide by the publisher, but we think every prospective high-performance homeowner should have it on their bookshelf or e-reader before talking to architects or builders about the genesis of their project.

That brings us to our next point: All of the books we’re suggesting here as sustainable reads are much more than members of a carefully curated list: They are coming straight off our bookshelf, where they have been residing for some period of time, many of them heavily bookmarked by the affliction we call Post-It Flag Syndrome. You won’t find your next page-turner novel on our list, but then again you don’t need to read every page of our selections in sequence to glean value and inspiration from them. You can pick and choose chapters based on what is most relevant to your project, and then easily come back to those segments as we often do, guided by your physical or digital bookmarks.

Living in healthier, more comfortable houses that are less expensive to operate and last longer is certainly an attractive idea. Who wouldn’t want to participate in that? – David Johnston & Scott Gibson

Now, it would be easy to dismiss Green from the Ground Up as yet another hum-drum construction manual, a prescriptive tome having little relevance for the engaged homeowner. But it has none of the text-heavy stigma often associated with such reference works, and in flaunting deference to the genre, Johnston and Gibson have delivered a carefully measured balance between copy and creative, with each chapter succinctly written, smartly photographed, and beautifully illustrated. Best Practices and The Green Factor sidebars woven throughout the chapters encapsulate the salient points, often serving up ready-built snippets you will want to add to your project planning checklist before talking with an architect or builder.

More Original Content FromDigitized House

Kohler H2Wise+ Marks Rise of the Water Network

How Smart Tech Drives Sustainable Home Decisions

6 Steps to Furnishing Your Space Sustainably Without Compromising Aesthetics 

Smart Housing’s Promise for Rural Development

Healthier Smart Home Air Filtration: Aura Air Review

Green from the Ground Up
In Green from the Ground up, authors David Johnston and Scott Gibson grant easy access to salient points through well-placed Best Practices and The Green Factors sidebars

But what struck closest to home for us was this passage on the first page of the opening chapter, posturing the concept of sustainable building in the most pragmatic terms. As Johnston and Gibson write: “What we alternately call green building or sustainable building is a way for people to make a positive difference in the world around them—if not reversing, then at least reducing their impact on the planet. Not coincidentally, it has its own rewards on a scale that all of us can immediately understand. If becoming model citizens of Planet Earth is too much to get our arms around, living in healthier, more comfortable houses that are less expensive to operate and last longer is certainly an attractive idea. Who wouldn’t want to participate in that?”

Well said.

And it was precisely to that last point—“Living in healthier, more comfortable houses that are less expensive to operate and last longer is certainly an attractive idea”—where we found ourselves returning time and time again as we were formulating the publishing mission of Digitized House. We think that resonates with many.

Coming from The Taunton Press (publishers of the magazines Fine Homebuilding, Fine Woodworking, and others), this 2008 book is filled with chapters that cover the topic of sustainable building comprehensively, as follows:

  1. Green Building Basics
  2. The House as a System
  3. Planning and Design
  4. Foundations
  5. Framing
  6. Roofs and Attics
  7. Windows and Doors
  8. Plumbing
  9. Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning
  10. Electrical
  11. Insulation
  12. Siding and Decking
  13. Solar Energy
  14. Indoor Air Quality
  15. Interior Finishes
  16. Landscaping

Is this sustainable read compelling enough to curl up with on your window seat? Maybe not, but it will give you a fresh perspective on the directions you may want to take with your next construction or remodel project.

Where to get this book:
The Taunton Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

More About This Topic:

  • 112 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 12
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Days 10 and 11
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 9
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 8
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 7
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 6
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 5
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 4
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 3
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 2
  • 12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 1
Tags: Book Reviewsdesignnon-affiliate
Previous Post

Pairing contemporary door design with sustainability

Next Post

12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 2

Tom Kolnowski

Tom Kolnowski

Tom Kolnowski is the Chief Content Officer & Founder of Digitized House Media, LLC, the publisher of Digitized House | Guide to the Connected Home. When he isn’t writing about smart home technology, sustainability, and high-performance architecture, you’ll find him exploring faraway destinations with his family.

Related Posts

Kohler H2Wise+ Smart Home Water Monitor. Image: Digitized House Media.
Review

Kohler H2Wise+ Marks Rise of the Water Network

9 June 2022

Kohler Company recently expanded its smart home portfolio with the Kohler H2Wise+ water monitor, a system designed to surveil a...

The Google Nest Hub displaying home energy data for a Reliant Energy customer. Image: Digitized House.
Sustainable Home

How Smart Tech Drives Sustainable Home Decisions

18 April 2022

Most people try to do their part to cut down on carbon and help save the planet. From recycling to...

Image: Spacejoy on Unsplash.
Sustainable Home

6 Steps to Furnishing Your Space Sustainably Without Compromising Aesthetics 

18 April 2022

Going green has never looked so good. More homeowners than ever are looking to decorate their interior with gorgeous, but...

Next Post
Day 2: The Distinctive Home

12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 2

Day 3: TreeHouse Annual 2015

12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 3

Day 4: New Natural Home

12 Days of Sustainable Reads: Day 4

As an Amazon Associate, Digitized House may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links, ads, or buttons on this page. See our full Affiliate Link, Sponsorship, and Ad Policy.

About Us

Digitized House is the Guide to the Connected Home.

We help global consumers make their 
Connected Homes smarter, healthier, safer, and 
more sustainable through streams of original content. You can see our story here.

Like what you see on this website? You can also read us on our Apple News App Channel.

More Info

  • About Us
    • — About Digitized House
    • — Advertise
    • — Editorial Guidelines
  • Policies
    • — Ad Policy
    • — Privacy Policy
    • — Cookie Policy (US)

Affiliate Disclosure

As an Amazon Associate, Digitized House may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links, ads, or buttons on this page. See our full Affiliate Link, Sponsorship, and Ad Policy.

Recent Content

Kohler H2Wise+ Marks Rise of the Water Network

How Smart Tech Drives Sustainable Home Decisions

6 Steps to Furnishing Your Space Sustainably Without Compromising Aesthetics 

Smart Housing’s Promise for Rural Development

Healthier Smart Home Air Filtration: Aura Air Review

Smart Tech Helping Build Sustainable Homes

© 2015-2022 Digitized House Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Connect Your Home
    • Deals
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Security Cameras
    • Security Systems
    • Smart Displays
    • Smart Door Locks
    • Smart Lighting
    • Smart Plugs
    • Smart Product Round-ups
    • Smart Speakers
    • Smart Thermostats
    • Smart Water
    • Smoke + CO Detectors
    • Solar Photovoltaics
    • Window Coverings
    • Connected Home and Gadget Resources
  • Ecosystems
    • Amazon Alexa
    • Apple HomeKit
    • Google Assistant
    • SmartThings
    • Open Systems
  • Design Your Home
    • Architecture
    • Healthy Home
    • Home Design
    • How-To
    • Green Building
    • Real Estate
    • Sustainable Home
  • About Us + Policies
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • Ad Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy (US)

© 2015-2022 Digitized House Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional cookies Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}