"Any book from Dan Chiras is bound to be a carefully researched, comprehensive, and engaging read. This is a great one! It will inspire a whole generation of builders to tread more lightly on the Earth."

--Doug Pratt, Real Goods technical editor referring to The New Ecological Home

The New Ecological Home: A Complete Guide to Green Building Options

The New Ecological Home contains a wealth of up-to-date, practical information on green building techniques, materials, products, and technologies. Dan Chiras provides an invaluable resource for home buyers, owner-builders, and anyone interested in building for a sustainable future.

The Natural House: A Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy-Efficient, Environmental Homes

"With more open space being filled up with houses made of foam and formaldehyde that are poorly designed, energy inefficient, and uncomfortable to occupy, the timing for The Natural House is perfect. Here is a thorough, commonsense, nonthreatening compendium of natural alternatives that all conventional home builders will also find useful."
--Kingsley Hammet, publisher, DESIGNER/builder magazine

The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling

While heat from sunlight and ventilation from breezes is free for the taking, few modern architects or builders really understand the principles involved. Yet "natural conditioning"--heating and cooling with passive solar techniques--is a viable alternative to fossil fuels. Dan Chiras brings these principles to a new generation of solar enthusiasts.

About the Author

Dan Chiras paid his last electric bill in June of 1996. It is not that he has disavowed the use of electricity and modern conveniences, but rather that he has turned to the sun and wind to meet his family's needs.

In 1995, Dan, a college professor with years of experience in sustainable development, built a state-of-the-art rammed earth tire and straw bale home in Evergreen, Colorado. He installed solar electric panels on the roof; a year or so later he installed a small wind generator. Since that time, he has met nearly all of his electrical needs for his home and office from these clean, renewable sources.

Dan has spent much of the past 30 years studying sustainability and applying what he has learned in solar energy, natural building, and green building to his residences, and most of the last ten years sharing the practical knowledge he has gained through writing, lectures, slide shows, and workshops.

Through his writing and teaching, Dan has played a leading role in promoting critical thinking, an understanding of the root causes of environmental issues, systemic solutions to environmental problems, sustainable development. He pioneered a systems approach to sustainable development and has played a lead role in articulating the principles, policies, and practices of sustainable development which seeks ways that business and society can prosper within a healthy environment. He is currently focusing most of his research and writing on sustainable building and sustainable communities.

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