May 1982 RAIN Page 11 CONSERVATION The Tighter House, by Charlie Wing, with John Lyons and the Staff of Cornerstones, 1981, 92 pp., $5.95, from: Rodale Press 33 E. Minor St. Emmaus, PA 18049 As energy costs rise and consciousness about energy conservation increases, more books on insulating appear on the shelves (see RAIN VI:8,21 for a review of The Complete Book of Insulating, ed. Larry Gay). The latest contribution is from Charles Wing, who has written a clear, concise guide to saving energy in the home from the ground up. He includes all the “standard" information, installation procedures, weather-stripping, hot water, and furnace efficiency improvement. In addition to the basics, he has a good section on spotting places in your house where heat leaks bypass the insulation. He completes the book with recommendations on establishing priorities for your conservation “game plan." —Gail Katz Superhouse, by Don Metz, 1981,150 pp., $12.95 from: Garden Way Publishing Charlotte, VT 05445 Dazzled by the plethora of energy-efficient housing strategies ? Swayed more by common sense than by computer print-outs? In this intelligently written introduction, you'll learn about earth-sheltered, super insulated, and double envelope houses. Earth-sheltered buildings get the best coverage, including good information on waterproofing. Double envelope houses are treated fairly—the evidence presented here convinces us that they work, but that superinsulated houses can probably achieve the same level of thermal comfort for less money. Metz writes clearly, with a minimum of jargon, and dispenses a good deal of Yankee horse sense: The Solar Age has proposed exciting, challenging, and essential changes to the ways in which we interact with our natural resources and environment. Our computers and high- tech industries may provide easy access to the new, appropriate technologies, but in the end we must count on our common sense and basic physical evidence—and remember that no matter what it's called, smoke goes up, water goes down. This book makes all the new energy-con- serving innovations look normal and conservative . It'd be a good gift for people who scoff at flashy solar houses and say "I'd never live in one of those." —Tanya Kucak Solar Energy, Conservation, and Rental Housing, by A. Levine, et.al., 1981,59 pp., $9 (printed copy order #A04), SERI/ RR-744-901, from: National Technology Information Service U.S. Dept, of Commerce 5285 Port Royal Rd. Springfield, VA 22161 The Solar Energy Research Institute has compiled data from previous studies on rental housing and energy to produce this policy paper for use by state and local officials who influence energy policy. The existing stock of rental housing in this country is older and less energy efficient than owner-occupied housing. Renters as a group have lower incomes than owners but are forced to pay a larger fraction of their gross income for energy, either directly or as part of the rent. Energy conservation measures are rarely implemented for rental housing. Owners won't spend the money if they don't see an immediate return and tenants don't have an interest in long term improvements. Legal barriers also stop landlords and tenants from taking action. The study recommends a mixture of incentive programs based on local considerations. For tenants, the emphasis is on low cost, short payback conservation measures. To stimulate the major changes that must come from property owners, tax credits and attractive financing are useful measures. Solar systems could even be leased to owners to decrease potential liability. Their last recommendation is that rent control laws should be changed to permit owners to pass on the cost of energy conservation improvement. The study does not deal with grass-roots organizing, but in the face of Reaganomics and recession, its recommendations may be the best option for creating energy-efficient rental housing. —Gail Katz WORK Expanding the Opportunity to Produce: Revitalizing the American Economy Through New Enterprise Development, edited by Robert Friedman and William Schweke, 1981,550 pp., $19.95 from: The Corporation for Enterprise Development 2420 K Street N.W. Washington, DC 20037 This book was published as a primer for the second national conference on “Expanding the Opportunity to Produce." Its primary value is in its balance rather than its all-inclusiveness. There are a few gaps, and the “Reality Checks" of the venture schemes they discuss are still to be discovered, but as an overview, a “reader," this is the best source of information on small business development I've seen. The contributors range from very conservative to fairly radical and the beauty is that they almost arrive at a consensus over what are the problems and what are some solutions. A coalesced effort that could include, say, the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Community Economic Development, has some real potential for success. There's clearly more likelihood for achieving certain goals together than there is at each other's throats. This book describes finance mechanisms, model cities and projects, and some projections of “what could happen if. ..." It's a good one to clip ideas from, to put into the hands of city commissioners and business leaders, and to use as a basis for dialogue in your own community. —Carlotta Collette
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