Residential Energy: Cost Savings and Comfort for Existing Buildings

by John Krigger and Chris Dorsi

Book Overview

Residential Energy introduces readers to a home's energy-related components and explains all the important possibilities for energy conservation. Readers will learn from this exceptionally illustrated... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1880120127
• ISBN13: 9781880120125
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Saturn Resource Management
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 2.03 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great Resource

I've built a few energy star homes and decided to further my education in this direction. This book has been a great resource which I've read a few times now. I'd recommend this book for anyone looking to build better homes or for those looking to understand aspects of home energy auditing. As a homeowner looking to develop a better understanding or the auditor looking for more in depth understanding.

This IS the Book on Home Energy Efficiency

In the home performance world this is called "the Krigger book." It is THE book to get for professionals, and it is often handed out in conjunction with BPI and HERS trainings. I refer to this book more than any other in our company's library. The 23 appendices are alone worth the price of the book. Of all the books on home energy efficiency, this book does the best job of explaining building science in the sense of how residential buildings perform as energy systems. Anybody who thinks making a house more efficient is just a matter of slapping up some insulation up and handing out a few energy-saving light bulbs will have their eyes opened after reading this book. It has lots of useful drawings in addition to the clearly written text. Important stuff in this book that are not in the "mental maps" of most homeowners and many contractors include: energy intensity indices (such as BTU/sq.ft./HDD-CDD), calculating heating loads, types of heat flow, defining the thermal boundary and air boundary, air leakage theory and testing (blower door usage), calculating natural air exchanges per hour (ACHn) from a blower door reading (CFM50), heating unit and distribution system efficiencies, non A/C cooling strategies, lighitng loads, light quality and efficient lighting, increasing water-use efficiencies, mechanical ventilation ("seal tight and ventilate right"), indoor moisture load-issues-management, combustion safety and indoor air quality, etc. As you can see, this may be a little too indepth for a homeowner. But anyone working in insulation and home energy performance should be familiar with these building science concepts. Get the book, get the right tools, and get good training! With all the emphasis on and new funding for energy efficiency in 2009 and beyond, this is a book that should be on reference shelves for a lot of businesses and organizations. I had an extra copy from a training and I donated it to our local public library. I see that Krigger and Dorsi also have a more concise book for homeowners -- probably just as good.

Both a course book and a reference book

Based on an earlier review I bought both this book and the recommended Insulate and Weatherize, and I found both useful. The latter is a very helpful and accessible guide, while this book (Residential Energy) is one that I know I will need to read more than once and aferwards come back to often; it is quite packed with info. There is a difference between "doing something useful" to reduce energy costs and "doing most everything that can be done" which, given escalating energy costs (despite any temporary downturns) in our future, is what we need (because if you allocate money to make your house use 50% less energy but energy costs double, how are you going to repay yourself?). As a "local energy committee" person in a small town concerned about helping people weatherize adequately, I keep finding there is more that I need to know, and this is the book that helps.

Great Book To Get Into The Home Energy Tech Field

Nicely done book for beginning residential energy auditor at the coomunity college level. Updated with lots of additional info in the back. With the cost of energy becoming a current issue, this book covers it all. So, if you want to enter this emerging field, this book would be a helpful start.

Residential Energy

This is a great book that walks you through the fundamentals to the more complex aspects of energy conservation in residential units. I find it easy to read, well organized with good graphics and tables.