Synopses & Reviews
Like its predecessors, this fourth edition of
The Green Guide to Specification provides designers and specifiers with easy-to-use guidance on how to make the best environmental choices when selecting construction materials and components. It is more comprehensive than its predecessors; it contains more than 1200 specifications used in six types of building:
• Commercial buildings, such as offices
• Educational buildings, such as schools and universities
• Healthcare buildings, such as hospitals
• Retail
• Residential
• Industrial.
The principal building elements covered in this edition of The Green Guide to Specification include:
• Floors
• Roofs
• Walls
• Windows
• Insulation
• Landscaping.
The performance of each specification is measured against a range of environmental impacts, including:
• climate change
• toxicity
• fossil fuel and ozone depletion
• levels of emissions and pollutants
• mineral and water extraction.
The Green Guide to Specification provides robust information to assist decision-making by translating
numerical life-cycle assessment data into a simple A+ to E scale of environmental ratings, enabling specifiers to make meaningful comparisons between materials and components.
The Green Guide to Specification is an essential tool for architects, surveyors, building managers and property owners seeking to reduce the environmental impact of their buildings by informed and responsible selection of construction materials and components.
Review
?The fourth edition is fantastic?having not seen the other three and I can't categorically say it's the best - but the fact there are 1,200 specifications, and in the first print there were 200, means it's a fair assumption to make.? ( Building Engineer ,September 2009)
Synopsis
This easy-to-use guide to the environmental impacts of building materials is based on sound data from the BRE. It is part of BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method), an accredited environmental rating scheme for buildings. The Green Guide now contains more than 1200 specifications used in various types of building. Since the last edition, information on the relative environmental performance of some materials and components has altered reflecting both changes in manufacturing practices, the way materials are used in buildings, and our evolving environmental knowledge.
The guide has been expanded to cover six generic building types: Commercial; Educational; Healthcare; Retail; Residential; and Industrial.
Materials and components are arranged on an elemental basis so that designers and specifiers can compare and select from comparable systems or materials as they compile their specification. The elements covered are: External walls; Internal walls and partitions; Roofs; Ground floors; Upper floors; Windows; Insulation; Landscaping; and Floor finishes.
This data is set out as an A+ to E ranking system for environmental performance and impact based on the following issues: Climate change; Water extraction; Mineral resource depletion; Stratospheric ozone depletion; Human toxicity; Ecotoxicity to freshwater; Nuclear waste; Ecotoxicity to land; Waste disposal; Fossil fuel depletion; Eutrophication; Photochemical ozone creation; and Acidification
About the Author
Jane Anderson, Building Research Establishment, Centre for Sustainable Construction, UK
David Shiers, Department of Real Estate and Construction, Oxford Brookes University, UK
Table of Contents
ForewordAcknowledgements
Project sponsors
The authors
Part1 Introduction
1 Background
2 The Green Guide and related BRE titles
3 Life cycle assessment (LCA) in The Green Guide
4 How The Green Guide to Specification was compiled
Part 2 Using The Green Guide
5 How to use The Green Guide to Specification
Part 3 The Green Guide ratings
6 The Green Guide tables
6.1 Ground floors
6.2 Upper floors
6.3 Separating floors
6.4 Roofs
6.5 External walls
6.6 Windows and curtain walling
6.7 Internal walls
6.8 Separating walls
6.9 Insulation
6.10 Landscaping
Appendix: Project steering group and peer review panels
Contacts and further information
References
Index