"Residential consumption represents nearly one quarter of North America’s total energy use and the average homeowner spends thousands of dollars a year on power bills. To help alleviate this problem, Energy-Wise Landscape Design presents hundreds of practical ways everyone can save money, time, and effort while making their landscapes more environmentally healthy, ecologically rich, and energy efficient. Combining general guidelines with tips, techniques, and actions, this fully illustrated guide explains the many opportunities our landscapes provide for conserving energy. Readers will learn how to: lower a home's heating and cooling costs; minimize fuel used in landscape construction, maintenance, and everyday use; choose landscape products and materials with lower embedded energy costs; make a positive difference without a major investment or change in lifestyle."--Publisher's description.