How do I make a rough estimate, for a typical suburban house, of the % of its outside wall area that consists of window area? It is question 30 in chapter 1
One way would be to make a sketch of a typical side of a typical house, then measure the dimensions of the side and the dimensions of the windows. Figure out the areas.
Quicker and just as good: Make your sketch. Then try to fill the rest of the wall with average-sized windows and see how many windows it takes, compared to how many you originally had in your sketch.
What do you sub in for x (distance traveled) when you are trying to find out if the equation will work?
I'm sorry but I not sure which equation you are talking about. Can you clarify?