House & Home • $35 USD

“The Carbon-Free Home is a wonderfully useful guide to reducing household reliance on

fossil fuels. Most of us have very little idea how many hydrocarbons we’re using—until we do a per-
sonal inventory. The harsh reality is that we have all become complicit in an energy system whose future
is bleak and unsustainable. It’s time to bail out, and this book tells us how.” —RICHARD HEINBERG, Senior Fellow
at the Post Carbon Institute and author of The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies

“Stephen and Rebekah’s The Carbon-Free Home is a remarkable book. It’s thorough, well researched, and a delight to read. Its
many practical solutions offer hope for individual action in the face of daunting environmental crisis. Reading it made me want
to go home and get started on projects for our house.” —LYLE ESTILL, author of Small is Possible: Life in a Local Economy

“This is the perfect book for people who want to roll up their sleeves to save the planet. It is informative, well researched, easy
to follow, and inspiring. Our future depends on each of us reducing our carbon footprint. The Carbon-Free Home is a great
resource to assist in this adventure of our time.” —DAVID GERSHON, author of Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose
5,000 Pounds and Green Living Handbook: A 6 Step Program to Create an Environmentally Sustainable Lifestyle

“While not for the timid or tool-phobic, The Carbon-Free Home is a gold mine of inspiration and information for those hands-
on people with more time and energy than money, and a passion to help save the planet.” —BETH SACHS, Executive Director “It’s hard to imagine a
of Vermont Energy Investment Corporation more comprehensive, and
“As every beer-drinker knows, the glass starts full and ends empty. The quicker he drinks it, the sooner it is gone. It is the comprehensible, guide to
same with oil. . . . This book is essential reading, giving a full spectrum of invaluable advice on how to adapt to the new con- making your home work
ditions imposed by Nature. It is far from a doomsday message as it offers hope for a new, more benign age. The transition will
be tough but this book explains how to plan and prepare.” —COLIN J. CAMPBELL, Chairman of ASPO (Association for the Study for you and for the planet,
of Peak Oil) inside and out. It’s frugal,
it’s sensible, and it will
Having weaned themselves completely from fossil fuels in their conventional 1930s urban house, Stephen and
help!” —BILL MCKIBBEN
Rebekah Hren provide a map for others to do the same. Their book shows first how to reduce energy consumption,
then to retrofit existing homes to obtain all heating, cooling, cooking, refrigeration, hot water, and electricity from
renewable sources. The Hrens also provide advice on sustainable, low-impact methods of transportation and home
gardening. These practical approaches, many of which are suitable for renters as well as owners, fit anyone’s
budget and can be implemented over time to progressively liberate a home from fossil-fuel dependency.

STEPHEN and REBEKAH HREN live in Durham, North Carolina, where

they are both actively involved with renewable energy, natural building, and
edible urban gardening. Rebekah works with Honey Electric Solar, Inc., as a
professional designer/installer of photovoltaic and domestic hot water systems.
Stephen is a professional restoration carpenter, focusing on antebellum hous-
es. He teaches natural building classes and workshops at a local community
college, and in any spare time works with Bountiful Backyards, an edible-land-
scaping collective.

Chelsea Green Publishing

White River Junction, Vermont
802-295-6300
www.chelseagreen.com
 234 The Carbon-Free Home

Table 11.1 Daily Transportation Options and Their Efficiencies

Avg. Passenger Avg. Avg. Fossil-fuel Free? Pros Cons

Miles/1,000 Kcal MPH Urban MPH Hwy.
Average Car5 0.6 25 45 Absolutely not! Readily available, good for Killing the planet.
hauling larger items.

Compact Car6 1.2 25 45 No. Better than regular car, Still major cause of global
good at hauling medium- climate disruption.
sized items.
Hybrid Car7 1.4 25 45 Limited use of plug-in Better than regular car, Twice as expensive as
model could potentially good at hauling medium- compact for almost no
come close. sized items. benefit if run primarily on
gasoline; costly; expensive
to maintain.
Diesel Car8 0.9 25 45 Biodiesel potentially if Diesel engine more effi- New models are expensive;
used very sparingly. cient; biodiesel has greater used models unreliable or
net energy return than hard to come by.
ethanol.
Horse8 2.7 10 15 Yes, if not fed fossil Beautiful, fun, good Stupid laws restrict
grains. companions, manure great highway use, extra care
for garden. required, exposed to the
weather.
Walking10 (5) 23 3 3 Absolutely! Healthy, free, entertaining. Slow, exposed to the
weather, very hard to haul
large items.
Electric Car11 (6) 2.3 25 25 Potentially with renew- Compact, can move up to Limited availability, and
(Neighborhood able electric system. four persons or smaller testing, expensive, slow,
Electric Vehicle) hauls. battery replacement
required after a few years.
Bus12 (7) 5.6 20 45 Potentially with biodiesel. No maintenance, Limited availability, sched-
inexpensive. uling conflicts, difficult for
hauling large items.
Light Rail13 (8) 6.9 25 45 Potentially with biodiesel No maintenance, Very limited availability
or renewable electric inexpensive. depending on location,
system. scheduling conflicts, diffi-
cult for hauling large items.
Bicycle14 (9) 30 10 15 Yes! Very inexpensive personal Exposed to weather, difficult
transportation. for hauling large items.
Electric-Assist 20 15 15 Potentially with renew- Inexpensive personal More expensive than regu-
Bike15 (10) able electric system. transportation, assures lar bike, limited range.
constant speed
Gas Scooter16 (11) 2.4 25 35 No. Much cheaper and more Exposed to weather,
efficient than car. difficult for hauling large
items, noisy and polluting
two-stroke engine.
*In most places the public transportation options will be running on fossil fuels, but don’t take this as a reason not to use them. They are often
the most efficient use of these fuels. Comparison of transportation efficiencies courtesy of James Strickland.

CFH final pgs.indd 234 5/2/08 3:12:01 PM