On October 8 at the Central Library, Richard Moe explained how the preservation of historic and older buildings should be an important component of sustainable development efforts. Explore a few books about historic preservation, green remodeling, and architectural styles before his talk.

Historic preservation | Green remodeling | Architectural styles

Historic preservation

Changing Places: Rebuilding Community in the Age of Sprawl
By Richard Moe and Carter Wilkie
In Changing Places, Richard Moe and Carter Wilkie explore how America's historic communities are confronting sprawl: fragile towns throughout New England and the Midwest are defending themselves from corporate giants like Wal-Mart stores; community activists are building pride and hope in distressed neighborhoods in Pittsburgh and New Orleans by using preservation as a tool for revitalization; and, in the same way, cities such as Denver, Memphis, and Portland, Oregon, are breathing life back into their historic downtowns.

Preserving the World's Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis
By Anthony M. Tung
Both epic and intimate, this work details the fight to save the world's architectural and cultural heritage embodied in the extraordinary buildings and urban spaces of the great cities of Asia, the Americas, and Europe.

Saving America's Treasures
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Spearheaded by such luminaries as First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and influential preservationists Richard Moe, the groundbreaking Save America's Treasures campaign is showcased in this tribute to American's rich heritage. Items targeted by the campaign include Harriet Tubman's home, Babe Ruth's scrapbooks, and Louis Armstrong's archives.

New Life for Old Houses
By George Stephen
Practical, easy-to-understand introduction to good design and rehabilitation explains everything from selecting an architect and choosing appropriate materials to restoring interiors from ceiling to floor.

Restoring Wooden Houses
By Nigel Hutchins and Donna Farron Hutchins
Packed with practical information, illustrations and photographs, this essential guide shows how to preserve and restore wooden homes. The author gives advice on the care and protection of wood, paint stripping, wet and dry rot, eliminating carpenter ants, roof repair, and proper ventilation.

How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built
By Stewart Brand
Like people, buildings change with age, forced to adapt to the needs of current occupations. This provocative examination of buildings that have adapted well, and some that haven't, calls for a dramatic rethinking in the way new buildings are designed, one that allows structures to grow and change easily with the environment.

Green remodeling

Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies
By Eric Corey Freed
Want to build responsibly and help preserve the environment? This friendly, step-by-step guide introduces you to every facet of green building and remodeling, from sizing up construction sites and selecting materials to working with green professionals, reducing energy and water use, and weighing the pros and cons of popular green building methods.

Good Green Kitchens: The Ultimate Resource for Creating a Beautiful, Healthy, Eco-Friendly Kitchen
By Jennifer Roberts
Tour ten cutting-edge kitchens that share one major detail--all are at the forefront of eco-friendly design. In-depth information for comparing and selecting kitchen materials and products and an extensive resource list are included.

The Carbon-Free Home: 36 Remodeling Projects to Help Kick the Fossil-Fuel Habit
By Stephen and Rebekah Hren
Meant as a guide for renovating existing homes, this book gives you the hands-on knowledge necessary to kick the fossil fuel habit, with projects small and large listed by skill, time, cost, and energy saved. For every aspect of your life currently powered by fossil fuels, this book offers alternatives you can accomplish yourself to get started using renewable and sustainable sources of power.

Architectural styles

How to Read Buildings: A Crash Course in Architectural Styles
By Carol Davidson Cragoe
This practical primer is a handbook for decoding a building's style, history, and evolution. Every building contains clues embedded in its design that identify not only its architectural style but also the story of who designed it, whom it was built for, and why. Organized by architectural element (roofs, doors, windows, columns, domes, towers, arches, etc.), the book is roughly chronological within each section, examining the elements across history, through different architectural styles, and by geographical distribution.

Architectural Inspiration: Styles, Details & Sources
By Richard Skinulis and Peter Christopher
This style and source guide examines residential architecture and design elements from both creative and practical perspectives. Combining original photography of 70 homes with hundreds of product shots, this compendium is a resource and reference book for homeowners and professionals alike.

The Abrams Guide to American House Styles
By William Morgan
This compact, easily accessible guide with all color photography makes the identification of house styles a breeze. Each style is described by a Pulitzer Prize-nominated architectural historian, in a short historical summary, alongside a list of its distinguishing features.

Storybook Style: America's Whimsical Homes of the Twenties
By Arrol Gellner
In the tradition of the Bungalow series, this book provides a celebration of one of the 20th century's most delightful and whimsical architectural styles.

Book descriptions provided by BookLetters.