Author(s): James Steele
Publisher: McGraw Hill Text
ISBN: 0070609497
Order From: Amazon.com
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Sustainable Architecture: Principles, Paradigms, and Case Studies
Hardcover
320 pages
8th edition
June 1997
This groundbreaking book takes an eye-opening look at how and why 20th-century building technology has been so environmentally destructive. It then sets forth a workable strategy for redefining the post-industrial role of architecture and urbanism and shows, with exquisitely illustrated case examples, what can be done to solve these problems.
Environmentally intelligent building design and urban planning will be crucial to the world’s future. “Sustainable development” has become a buzzword in recent years, but it stands for an urgent international problem. How can the industrialized nations curb their overconsumption of the earth’s resources? And how can less-developed countries climb out of poverty without also stripping the environment? Sustainable Architecture maintains that architecture plays a critical role in international development. Modern construction techniques have spread around the world and have proven to be particularly wasteful and destructive. But this book clearly spells out answers to the dilemma. Architects and their clients can Learn: which building materials to use; how to use natural light and ventilation; how to select the “greenest” of modern methods-inexpensively; which traditional buidling methods are enviromentally harmonious; to teach their students enviromentally sensistive design. The book has a wealth of case histories of well-planned buildings and communities the world over. Also included are facts about the comparative merits of building materials, the energy it takes to produce them, and the impact of that production of the Third World. For educators, there is a blueprint for a course in sustainable architecture. Sustainable Architecture is an invaluable aid to architects, their students, their clients, and community planners. It clearly shows the way to environmentally responsible design and building practice.
