The Greenest Home: Superinsulated and Passive House Design Hardcover – June 4, 2013

Kudos to Torres Moskovitz for addressing the challenge of helping to take energy efficient homes to the mainstream. By briefly summarizing the key elements on a wide range of existing green homes, this book will help the reader to understand a good number of the energy savings options available so they can ask the right questions in their own designs. I would strongly recommend this book to the homeowner and or architect who understands the advantages of building the next generation of efficient homes, but does not necessarily know what solutions are out there.It is amazing to me how the building industry continues to largely ignore many of the solutions that will help the homeowner save a significant amount of energy (and money) every year. I just built a house that is essentially carbon neutral (geothermal heat pump and wind/solar electric) and reading this book at the start of that process would have saved me a lot of time and money as I could have done a better job insulating and used passive heating and then sized the house with a smaller heat pump.My two negative comments are small and don't detract from the five star rating. I feel like the title is a little confusing and that some people might not understand what this book is exactly about. And while I love that there are performance metrics on the buildings that are reviewed in the book (I am now going to see how my house stacks up in comparison), I wish that the glossary better covered some of the definitions of these metrics (although I was able to dig them up on-line quickly).

An overview of properties featuring sustainable intentions from around the world. Nice pictures, not too much text and not too much photo use...a good balance.I especially enjoyed the project summaries and details at the end of the book.Will be dog earing this one for many years to come.Knocked a star off for not including a vendor glossary. They name dropped enough about designers. We would have appreciated the valuable product information just as much, if not more.

This beautiful book written by Julie Torres Moskovitz is well organized, brilliantly photographed and illustrated, and fun to read for both the green minded enthusiast and the seasoned architect. I feel hopeful for the future when I read "It's the architects who hold the key to turning down the global thermostat." This is a wonderful coffee table book that I'm proud to own and display.

This book was packed poorly and arrived very damaged on the top and bottom edge. The pictures are nice but the damage means it cannot be displayed.

Torres Moskovitz captures the beauty and essence of the Passive House design concepts in a straightforward elegant manner. The author shows the reader the way to modern design, energy efficiency and budget considerations...a formula for success hopefully to be followed by more folks considering building in today's world for a better environmental future. A must have reference!

Torres Moskovitz strikes a sophisticated balance between photographs which tell an aesthetic narrative of how something visually compelling can help save the planet and critical data which explains the nuts-and-bolts of what goes into designing and engineering "The Greenest Home". A "go-to" reference for any person interested in both good design and environmentally-conscious design.

Disappeared in the book only. Was looking for build Techniques for Passive solar not just well-insulated homes

Precious little in the way of useful design data or procedures. It should have been called: The ugliest P.C. Home (in pictures and platitudes). A real disappointment.

Has information I require

Good

very happy with my purchase.. good photos, interesting selection of approaches to energy-saving strategies, ideal for someone planning on building their own 'green' house. A useful section at the back of the book gives some construction details for each of the featured houses..

i love this eye opening book on beautifully and cleverly designed passive houses. When reading I learned to appreciate the painstaking mathematical details and required material skills involved.