If you are planning on researching eco-building, now would be an ideal time to keep an eye out for our new books.
Now available is the fully updated and revised edition of The Energy Saving House by Stephane Bedel and Thierry Salomon. Off The Grid by Duncan Kerridge, also fully revised and updated. In addition The Whole House Book by Cindy Harris and Pat Borer, is now in hardback for the first time. Perfect for surviving constant reference!
While many major power companies now offer green tariffs, small-scale energy systems may offer a sensible and sustainable alternative to people who really want to know where their power comes from. Off-grid living can also be a viable purse-friendly solution to those who live far enough from the beaten track that the cost of grid connection is prohibitive.
The 2008 edition of Off The Grid includes updated information on legislation and planning information. It also supplies the means by which you can assess your domestic needs, make the most from the resources around you and make an informed choice about what system - whether wind-powered, photo-voltaic, water-driven or geothermal, would suit you and your surrounding environment. It also offers practical information about installing, controlling and maintaining a variety of systems.
Written in an accessible, no-nonsense style, together with clear illustrations, Off The Grid is a good starting point for anyone considering switching to self-generated, non-grid or grid-linked power. It is also a handy reference point for those who already have some knowledge of the field.
Duncan Kerridge and contributor David Hood are experienced in various forms of energy production. Duncan Kerridge has worked in renewables both in the UK and abroad, most recently for Dulas Engineering as a biomass specialist. David Hood is an engineer and works as a consultant for the Centre for Alternative Technology.
Information for Action...Got a dream project you've been putting off? Whether it's sorting out the garden, investigating solar water heating, setting up greywater recycling, using vegetable oil to power your car or putting a turf roof on the shed, pay-per-view, CAT's information download shop, gets you instant access to the information you need to get it done.
Through PPV, you can get the full range of CAT's tipsheets and factsheets, the most up-to-date versions of our resource guides, which list suppliers and installers for all your renewable needs, and full access to our popular technical titles covering home renewables like small wind turbines, biomass heating and solar water heating.
The Organic Garden Organic gardening guru Allan Shepherd's new book 'The Organic Garden' has just been published by Harper Collins in association with CAT. Allan works here in the publications department, and we're very proud of him - The Organic Garden is a beautiful book which perfectly demonstrates CAT's mission to "inform, inspire and enable".
Allan explained to us how the Organic Garden had come about:
"In many ways it's representative of ten years of my life. It's about gardening but also climate change, ethical living, community, not to mention wildlife, natural materials, eco-building, renewable energy.
It's the first book to treat ethical living as a central component of organic gardening and the first one to talk about climate change. When I started writing the climate change section a year and a half ago I thought I was writing for an audience that would be only semi aware of the issue. How things have changed..."
