Read and Seed 4: Third Quarter of Green From the Ground Up

1. The third quarter of my book is 4 chapters and pages 173-251. The 4 chapters include Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning, Electrical, Insulation, and Siding.
2. Chapter 9 is about the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems that can be used in a house. One way to conserve energy is to use a passive solar design that allows the sun to heat most of the house with a lot of windows in facing certain directions. Forced air systems are the most common type, using duct work to dispurse warm/cool ari throughout the house. Making sure that all of the ductwork running through the conditioned space is insulated reduces the heating and cooling loads and conserves energy. Extracting heat using a geothermal system is a great way to use less energy but it is more expensive to put in. Chapter 10 is the electrical chapter talking about ways to use less and also produce energy in the house. Using solar panels are a great way to generate electricity. There is a big difference between incandescent light bulbs and compact flourescent light bulbs. Incandescent bulbs put off more heat than they do light which wastes energy and they do not last as long either. Making sure that you are putting in lights only where you need them is a great way to save energy and money. If you put the money into skylight windows or large windows, lighting would not be as necessary. Chapter 11 is about insulation, the different types and how to use them. The first part of the chapter talks about where the important parts to insulate are. They are where you would think, anywhere that could lead to outside. Making sure that the house is air tight in all areas is crucaial to energy efficiency. Keeping the insulation from being compacted is the best way to make sure that it does it's job to highest quality. Chapter 12 is the siding chapter. It begins with the importance of drainage planes, meaning  its design is to ensure any moisture getting behind the siding has a way to evaporate or flow away from the building. It then talks about the different types of siding, an example is stucco siding. It is slightly more expensive but requires little maintenance and very durable.
3/4. One of the cooler and very beneficial things that I learned was the details about the duct work. It was probably one of the more detailed and thoughtout parts of building the house. There was definet ways of making sure that it is as efficient as possible. All ductwork looks the same to me until I hear what simple and quick tips can be done to ensure they are correctly. There was a huge difference in efficiency from the poor ways of doing ductwork causing air leaks and low heat/cool loads. I would make sure that I spent the little extra money hiring people that know what they are doing to save myself money and energy in the long run.