The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse: How to Design and Build a Net-Zero Energy Greenhouse

by Lindsey Schiller with Marc Plinke, 307 pages, 7¼x8¾, softcover. Is it worth the coal burned to generate the electricity to grow a tomato in Maine in February instead of trucking it in from Florida? Should we even eat tomatoes in Maine in February, or should we virtuously resign ourselves to months of flabby turnips, boredom, and scurvy? As greenhouses gain in popularity for season extension, they have earned some backlash for their energy-hungry need for supplemental heating and lighting. But what if we can have our tomatoes and our virtue, too? Schiller and Plinke show how to minimize greenhouse energy use both through basic good planning (siting, orientation, proper materials selection, good insulation) and through more advanced techniques. Also includes information on solar hot water, rocket mass stoves and compost heaters, as well as aquaponic and hydroponic systems. -Alice Coyle