Ecology of Building Materials

Softcover  480pp, 89 illus  ISBN 0750654503      £30.99

AWARD WINNING TITLE!

• Gain a comprehensive understanding of ecology in building
• Learn about alternative building materials and how to use them
• Vital technological information allows you to pu the ideas of sustainability into practice

Silver Award Winner at the Chartered Institute of Buildings Literary Awards:

'[The book] is tightly packed with text, tables, references and illustrations; it is thorough...and it is wide-ranging in coverage of materials and techniques, both familiar and less so.'
Adam Voelcker, The Architectural Review

'...an amazingly comprehensive and thorough resource, full of gems of wisdom, and anyone seriously interested in exploring alternatives to mainstream materials will find a great deal of useful material.'
Environmental Building News

As both a practising architect and a researcher, Berge introduces us authoritatively to issues such as using raw materials from renewable sources, and the possibilities of designing and manufacturing reusable building materials. The alternatives to modern building materials are outlined and discussed from an ecological perspective.

In a time when environmental labelling is becoming increasingly popular and the producers of building materials are urged to be more environmentally aware, it is obviously important that we are acquainted with these alternatives.

Important issues discussed in this book include:

• Can raw materials from non-renewable sources be replaced with raw materials from widely available or non-depletable sources?
• Can environmentally friendly chemicals replace environmentally damaging ones?
• Can the make-up of building materials be altered so that individual components can be re-used?

A clear interpretation of complicated Life Cycle Analysis issues and vital guidance are given to specifiers confronted with a plethora of manufacturers' environmental claims.

Contents

Preface; Introduction; Section 1 - Eddies and water-level markers: Resources; Pollution; Local production and the human ecological aspect; The chemical and physical properties of building materials; Section 2: The flower, iron and the ocean: Water and air, Minerals; Stone; Loose materials; Fossil oils; Plants; Materials of animal origin; Industrial by-products; Part 3: The construction of a Sea-Iron Flower: Structural Materials; Climatic Materials; Surface Materials, Building components; Fixings and connections; Paint, varnish, stain and wax; Impregnating agents, and how to avoid them; Index.