New book lends insight into building net-zero homes

Author examines how to retrofit a home that produces the power it needs for heating, cooling and electricity

A new book and video series, “Warm and Cool Homes: Building a Healthy, Comfy Net Zero Home You’ll Want to Live In Forever,” from Wes Golomb was released Dec. 28, explaining what is involved in building or renovating of a net-zero home that produces all the power it needs for heating, cooling and electricity.

The first section lays out in easy-to-understand terms the basic concepts of building a tight, well-insulated home as it follows award-winning builder Bob Irving as he builds a house on the New Hampshire Seacoast. In 2020, that particular house cost about $400 for heating, cooling and electricity.

The second section of the book explores the practical, cost-effective sustainable energy options available to homeowners and how they work. The books final section profiles four houses from construction to completion.

The book comes with a set of videos that will show viewers how Bob and others build and retrofit a net-zero home, focusing on the key points that are important in building a tight, well-ventilated envelope. Viewers will also hear from industry experts on how to efficiently power these houses using heat pumps and solar energy.

The book’s author, Wes Golomb, is a long-time clean energy advocate, who helped organize the first Earth Day Celebration in Boston in 1970, and has been at it ever since. He had an energy auditing/solar business and was the second certified energy auditor in New Hampshire in 1981. A professor of environmental science from 1982 until 2016, he administered NH’s energy codes, served on the State of NH Energy Efficiency Sustainable Energy board and the NH Sustainable Energy Association Board for 12 years. In 2006 he founded the first energy services degree program in the Northeast, where he taught until he retired in 2016.

Wes lives in Deerfield, NH, with his wife, Laurie, and his two two dogs, Luke and Buster.