Green Gift Guide: 5 Top Notch Geothermal Books

Knowledge is power - we all know it - so I’m bringing you five of the top geothermal reads to get your brain buzzing and help you acquire the two available geothermal-related LEED credits for your next project. Whether you pick them up on your e-reader or head to your local bookstore for a traditional paperback doesn’t matter at all. What does matter is that you simply find your way to them and use their valuable geothermal heating and electricity production information wisely.

1) The Smart Guide to Geothermal: How to Harvest Earth’s Free Energy for Heating and Cooling

This basic text by Donal Blaise Lloyd offers a surface look at all aspects of choosing, installing and managing a geothermal energy solution through 22 short chapters. Its easy to read style and use of explanative graphics make it highly informative for a geothermal newcomer. So, while the information may prove a bit underwhelming for a LEED certified pro, this is a great book to use as an introductory resource for customers considering their energy options.

2) Renewable: The World Changing Power of Alternative Energy

Just released last month, "Renewable" by Jeremy Shere offers thought-provoking, up-to-date analysis and commentary on the history and impact of five major alternative energies: green gas, solar, wind, earth and water. This objective, nonpolitical text is sure to make you feel informed and optimistic about the future of sustainable energy sources.

3) Modern Geothermal HVAC Engineering and Control Applications

Published this past summer as the updated version to it’s predecessor, this book by Jay Egg deep dives into the professional specifics of Geothermal energy systems. Egg offers best practices learned from more than two decades in the field, all of which have garnered the text as a critical “must read” by dozens of geothermal engineers and installers.

4) Power with Nature: Renewable Energy Options for Homeowners, 3rd Ed.

Now in its second revision, Power with Nature, 3rd Ed. by Rex Ewing provides relays wind, solar and geothermal power in immensely clear, easy-to-understand language that is usually tied to a simple story.

5) Make Solar and Geothermal Work for You: Energy with Geothermal Heating & Cooling Creates An Unbelievable Return

This text from 2012 by Dr. Simon Marlow provides a unique perspective on combining solar and geothermal practices to achieve a net-zero home. Dr. Marlow’s knowledge stems from a PhD in bio-engineering and a number of other books he’s authored on gardening and sustainable living. He truly practices what he preaches at his New Hope, Pennsylvania home.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of these books is that because the geothermal community is such a niche, it’s not all that difficult to get in touch with the above authors. More often than not, they’re excited and willing to share their knowledge. But now we’re getting ahead of ourselves - first go out and buy the book!