My husband and I have a dream that we will one day design and build our own custom home. In fact, I have a red folder where I keep magazine clippings of things that I’d like to have in the home: the size and layout of the rooms, the structural features, etc.
For example, I’d love to have a detached garage, a work studio, a playroom, and a covered porch with a wood deck. Of course, I’d want to use low-VOC paints, low-e windows, skylights, and solar heating. It doesn’t have to be a huge house…just comfortable, aesthetic, safe, green (environmentally friendly, not green in color), and imaginative – with plenty of room to play outdoors.
I’ve had extra opportunities to dream lately because I’ve been reading “Good Green Homes: Creating Better Homes for a Healthier Planet” by Jennifer Roberts (Gibbs Smith, 2003). It looks like a coffee-table book with slick and glossy magazine-style pages, professional photographs, and an artistic layout. It’s the kind of book that is fun to flip through, but it is also engrossing at the content level. When I first picked it up, I thought it would be more of a “look-through-and-skim” book, but then I started reading and was surprised to find that I couldn’t put it down! The well-written narrative was practical without being overly technical or scientific – and the ideas applied to a variety of audiences. Roberts offers suggestions for people who are looking to renovate, rent an apartment, buy an older home, or build a custom home. The recommendations help the reader dream about a new home and/or change their current home to make it “healthier to live in, easier on the environment, more valuable over the long-term, and more delightful to come home to.”
Good Green Homes is a really good book. I look forward to reading more/other books by Jennifer Roberts in the future.
WIN IT! One winner will receive a copy of “Good Green Homes” by Jennifer Roberts. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post prior to Monday, April 28 at midnight (don’t forget to follow the rules). The winner will be announced and contacted on Tuesday, April 29. * Winner must provide a U.S. mailing address.
*UPDATE* The winner is #22 stampedwithgrace. Congratulations!
I would like to know what else I can do to make a green home.
Sounds like a good book.
This looks interesting…
I am an architect and I would like to see more green homes.
When I first picked it up, I thought it would be more of a “look-through-and-skim” book, but then I started reading and was surprised to find that I couldn’t put it down! The well-written narrative was practical without being overly technical or scientific – and the ideas applied to a variety of audiences.
I’ve had extra opportunities to dream lately because I’ve been reading “Good Green Homes: Creating Better Homes for a Healthier Planet” by Jennifer Roberts (Gibbs Smith, 2003).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Roberts offers suggestions for people who are looking to renovate, rent an apartment, buy an older home, or build a custom home. The recommendations help the reader dream about a new home and/or change their current home to make it “healthier to live in, easier on the environment, more valuable over the long-term, and more delightful to come home to.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We are trying to decide whether to redo and renovate or build a new home. This book would be a great help making our decision. Thanks for such a useful giveaway!
i would so love to win this book
nice book
I would love this prize!
I would love to have this as a reference for the green home i am building in my mind :)
please enter me :)
I’d love to find more ways to make my home green. We take far too much for granted and don’t always search for a better solution.
thanks, love this looks great
I think this is our biggest challenge as parents. What type of world will we leave our children?
I have been remodeling an old 1950’s family home this year.I have been very green in doing so, even though the cost of green is a bit higher! I would love to win this so I could get some other ideas!
ty 4 the great contest!
thanks
i want to win
This would be a good read.
this would be great to read.
Good idea–whether you plan to build a new or upgrade your existing home, this book is essential. Going green saves alot of money for you, and saves the earth too! I call that a win-win situation. Let’s make it a win win win one with me winning the book ;-)!!
This would be a really good useful book to read!
this is such an important topic and something I would like more education on how I can do things at home to make a difference
Thanks for this contest!
Looks great! Thanks for the giveaway!
this is a book i could really use.
I’m totally into “greenness”, and always on the lookout for more ideas.
I need another source for green friendly ideas
Love the idea
need all the help I can get to kickstart me green
This would be a great read. Thanks.
Count me in!
I’ve jumped on the green bandwagon as well and enjoy discovering new ways to optimize my lifestyle while remaining earth friendly too. This is a great giveaway!
I’ve been wanting to go Green to help save the environment and save money!
Great contest, must have great ideas in it!
The ideas would be really helpful and I love that it’s packaged in such a beautifully designed book.
I’d love to read this book as we’re debating whether to renovate or build within the next two years to create a green home.
Yes please. These are changes I am trying to make in my life & I could use all the help I could get.
I’ve always been on board for Green Living. It’s so nice that it is becoming the thing to do and so essential. Thanks for the contest!
With family being my #1 passion–#2 is doing all that I can to leave the earth a better place for my children and their children and so on. With a limited budget my husband and I do all we can that does not cost a lot of money.
-recycle, eco-friendly light bulbs, compost…
I would love to see the suggestions this book has to offer!
Thank you for the chance to win!! :)
i’ve been trying to make my home more green for a while, this would be a big help!
Great post. Hopefully I win the contest. haha. It’s a great book, my sister just bought it the other day. Teaches you a lot. Haha. As far as the magazine clippings go, I do the same, although my folder is blue. Have you considered bioheat. I just switched over to it. All existing oil heat users can switch without having to buy new equipment. All it is, it’s a biodegradable blend of oil. Mixed with biodiesel, made up from soybean oil, corn, etc. Pretty good. Burns cleaner, I won’t contribute to greenhouse gases with it, and it costs about the same as I used to pay for regular heating oil.
Here’s a the link I found while working with NORA and researching heating alternatives.
http://oilheatamerica.com/index.mv?screen=bioheat
I want to do my part
but where o where do I start
going green like Kermit the frog
and learning not to be such an energy hog
these things I could learn from this book
so winning it would be off the hook
enter me
A great Book, enter me please.
I’ve been working on making my house more green since I bought it 4 years ago… it’s nice that this idea is finally becoming trendy.
We already do the basics like recycling, not turning the heat up high, and not leaving water running. It would be great to get more ideas on how to conserve / be green.
I would love this so much!
Would love to win…. always love new building ideas
My dad has been talking about building a green home for a couple of years. I would love to have this for him. Thanks!
I’m a new homeowner and am always trying to get more green – this would be a great read!
thanks for the contest
I’m always up for learning more about living green
I would love to win this to share with all of my family, friends and co-workers.
We all have opportunities to better the earth with choices we make. This book looks like it has a lot of ideas.
i would like to read this.
I would really love to read this – I’m trying to become more “green”
I too, have a dream home folder. This book would make a great addition to my “dream file.”
Thanks!
There is so much to continue learning about when learning to live as green as possible. Thanks for the opportunity to win what looks like an incredible book!
spea
Thank you for the great giveaway, I’d love to win this.
What a great book, I’d love to give some new ideas a try
I would love to read this!!! Please enter my name, THANKS!!!
im a firm believer in living green, would like this
I’m planning on building in a few years and would like to make it as green as possible. This book looks great!
I need to learn green
this would be great to win!
We’re looking to buy/build a home in the near future & would love to glean ideas from this book!
THIS WOULD HELP ME MAKE SOME GREENER DECISIONS!
Great giveaway in honor of Earth Day! As a biologist, I think it is very important that books like this are published to steer people towards taking steps to go GREEN. We can’t really afford to have our home built or anything, but we would love to make the space we have more eco-friendly. As a bookworm, this would be a great addition to my book collection. Thank you.
I am awful in the sense that I always love to change the home front – this would definately give me some new and inspiring ideas.
i want to win
I would like to learn more about green.
Happy Earth Day! I enjoy books with decorating and home styles! This book you are reading sounds very good. Someday, when both of our sons are fully grown, we plan on building a home. Please enter me in your drawing. Thanks,Cindi
As wife to and architect and a one time aspiring architect myself (ok so I was twelve but I was/am really into architecture) this book is totally up our alley. We too are dreaming about the home we would like to build one day. Who knows if that day will ever come but in the mean time it’s fun to dream.
Everyday is Earth Day!!!!!
Thanks for the giveaway!
let’s keep our kids healthy!
happy earth day
I bet this book has great tips in it.
Count me in!
nice book
please enter me
This would be great to read.
This is a great offer! Thanks! Count me in!
Great contest!!
enter me!
Enter me, please.
Thanks for the chance to win.
I would really love this!
you can’t turn on the TV or computer without hearing the word GREEN! I have been thinking about it so much lately and have been trying to be much better at it! I would love to win this book and find out more ways to get my family to think GREEN :)
would love to have this one
Would love this book !!
Wow!!
This is exactly the type of thing my husband and I would love to do in the next ten years. It’s always been our dream to build our own home, and of course we would want to do it as sustainably as possible. My husband has a bookshelf full of house-planning books and magazines, but nothing like that. How wonderful!
What a wonderful book…would love to win. THANKS :)
I really need to start going green at home. I’m sure this book would help me.
I want it. Hope I win.
Let’s make our planet greener! yeah!
this book is just what we need, pick me!!
this book sounds great!! thanks!
Sounds like an interesting book. My husband and I talk about our green dream home too. I haven’t started a folder of ideas yet, I should start one. We still have a looooong time to dream.
We have some land that we will be building a house on in a few years. I hope that we can make it Green. We have a lot of research to do before that time comes.
Please enter me thanks
I’d love to read this. :)
My husband has actually been talking about wanting to update our house to be more eco-friendly, so this would be a nice resource to have.
Would love this book.
would love to read this book
sounds like a good book
Pick me. I’d love this.
Oh I love this giveaway. I get all in a tizzy about green homes. I actually have to steer my husband away from the brink (he brings up underground houses and pre-fab clip together house-in-box).