Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House is a book by Carol Venolia and Kelly Lerner. Carol Venolia is an award-winning architect and author. Kelly Lerner is an architect and innovator in the fields of sustainable development and straw-bale construction.
I recently checked this book out of my local library. Half-way through reading I’m really impressed by how much I’ve learned from it.
How Can I Improve My Existing Home?
You might have read or seen some of the environmental options for building a new home. Most of us aren’t building a new home though. What can be done to improve an existing home? This book gives lots of ideas to answer that question.
I like that the first thing you are asked to do before designing a remodel is to complete a rather extensive questionnaire about how you live in your house and the things you value in the indoor and outdoor environment. In fact you are advised to have each member of your household complete the questionnaire.
This book isn’t just about design or remodeling it’s about:
- Indoor and outdoor living spaces.
- Using sunlight and passive solar gain.
- Your home as part of the natural environment.
- Wind direction, air movement through your home, and how good or bad design influences fuel use.
- Water in your home and landscape.
- Using paving, trees, and vines to control temperature and humidity in your indoor and outdoor living spaces.
Good and Not So Good
Although Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House contains some ideas for projects you can do now its strength lies in outlining the steps to form an overall comprehensive plan to improve an existing home. To get the best from the advice in this book will involve projects which involve considerable time and money.
The good thing is that I think this book can lead you to some really wonderful solutions for not just greening your home, but for fitting your home to the natural environment and for fully fitting it to your needs. And some great guidelines are given to help you choose reasonable solutions that will have payback. It’s an especially ideal book for someone buying an older home with a commitment to remodel.
My one criticism is that I’d like to have seen more attention paid to relating solutions to climate zones. While there is an upfront declaration of the importance of climate zone I think more could have been done to tie solutions covered in the text to zones by using symbols or charts.
What do you think? Do you have an interest in greening your home?
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Great review and it sounds like a very comprehensive book. I like the topics of air movement through the home. My sister has a newer home (built in 2006, I believe) and the air movement through the house is not very productive. There are some rooms that are downright hot, when compared to the rest of the house.
Hi Melissa, yes I love the comprehensive options on air movement in this book. It gives clear explanations on things like cupolas (which I’d not heard of), porches, using windows (even different styles of windows), using water bodies to cool air, thermal chimneys, landscaping, wind catchers, and (of course) ceiling fans.
What a great review! It is so nice that someone is saying you don’t have to build a new house to green your home. I like that she is giving suggestions for making your existing house greener.
Carole, I agree with you. I was really pleased too to find 2 ladies who are recognized designers of green homes. Carol Venolia also has a neat little trailer she uses when she travels for work. I found this article about it https://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/People-and-Places/60-Square-Feet-of-Wisdom.aspx