Handbook of Sustainable Building: An Environmental Preference Method for Selection of Materials for Use in Construction and Refurbishment

Handbook of

Sustainable Building:

by David Anink, Cheil Boonstra, and John Mak.

1996, James & James (Science Publishers) Limited.

Paperback, 175 pages, $40.

With their National Green Plan, the Dutch have long been leaders in their environmental thinking, and this book shows that the same applies to their resources for environmental building. The Handbook of Sustainable Building offers what many builders and designers in the U.S. have been clamoring for—straightforward, component-by-component recommendations for environmentally ­preferable materials. The recommendations are based on an adaptation of life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to the building context, much like the American Institute of Architect’s Environmental Resource Guide (ERG) (reviewed in EBN Vol. 5, No. 2). Unlike the ERG, however, this Handbook does not contain the detailed descriptions of the materials’ life-cycles, concentrating instead on the recommendations.

The Handbook of Sustainable Building is the first English translation of the Dutch Handleiding Duurzame Won-ingbouw, which is now in its third edition. The current edition is limited to materials used for residential construction, but work on commercial and institutional building components is underway.

The main body of the book consists of two parts: new construction and renovation. Each part contains about eighty short sections for specific building elements, including first, second, and third choices for environmentally preferable materials, and a not recommended selection. A few short paragraphs describe the reasoning for the selections. Many recommendations are identical in both parts, but the discussion in each focuses on issues relating to new construction or renovation.

Preceding the two main parts are a concise overview of sustainable construction and an explanation of the Environmental Preference Method (EPM), on which the book is based. This part also includes snapshots of six projects for which materials were selected based on the EPM, with listings of the materials used. Part Four, at the end of the book, contains summaries of the environmental concerns associated with a range of generic materials.

While this concise presentation of environmental preferences would seem extremely useful, there is a drawback. Without more detailed explanations of the life-cycle assessments behind these recommendations, it is hard to judge their value or to know when alternative materials might be more appropriate for a particular application. Most recommendations correspond well with information from other sources that we’ve used at EBN, but with a somewhat stronger preference for “natural” or minimally processed materials over manufactured ones.

We were surprised by a few specific concerns raised in the text, such as the extraction of gravel for use as concrete aggregate or the use of zinc on galvanized steel. In fact, until recently this book was not available in North America, allegedly due to legal threats from the zinc industry over the Dutch publication.

The building components are based on typical Dutch residential construction and don’t always apply to the North American context. American readers may also experience some confusion over the British terminology in the translation. In spite of these minor obstacles, this Handbook will be extremely welcome in the library of anyone practicing sustainable design and construction.