Table Of ContentGreen Buiding Handbook
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Green Building Handbook
Volume 1
A guide to building products and their
impact on the environment
Tom Woolley,
Queens University of Belfast
Sam Kimmins, Paul Harrison
and Rob Harrison
ECRA, Manchester
Green Building Digest
iii
First published 1997 by E & FN Spon, an imprint of Thomson Science &
Professional
Reprinted 1998, 1999 by E & FN Spon
Reprinted 2001 by Spon Press
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Spon Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands
of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 1997 ACTAC (The Technical Aid Network) and the Ethical Consumer
Research Association
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 0-203-47740-5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-78564-9 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-419-22690-7 (Print Edition)
Publisher's note
This book has been produced from finished pages supplied on disk by the
authors.
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
Part 1— Introduction
1. Green Building 2
2. How to Set About Green Building 18
3. Examples of Green Buildings 23
Part 2— Product Analysis and Materials Specification
How to use the Handbook 32
Key to Table Headings 33
4. Energy 36
5. Insulation Materials 59
6. Masonry 78
7. Timber 103
8. Composite Boards 131
9. Timber Preservatives 160
10. Window Frames 201
11. Paints and Stains for Joinery 221
12. Roofing Materials 235
13. Rainwater Goods 285
14. Toilets and Sewage Disposal 305
15. Carpets and Floorcoverings 328
Further Reading 355
vi
Useful Organisations 356
The Organisations Behind the Digest 358
Index 365
Preface
This book is based on material from the first 12 issues of the Green Building
Digest. We began to publish the digest in 1995 in an attempt to distribute
information about the environmental impact of building materials and techniques
to a wide range of people concerned with the built environment. It was partly
financed by a grant from the Department of the Environment in England through
its Environmental Action Fund, subscriptions, grants from other bodies, fund-
raising and a great deal of voluntary effort. ACTAC, a federation of technical aid
centres and consultancies, which has been involved in helping community groups
taking environmental action for over 15 years, commissioned the Ethical
Consumer Research Association to research material for a series of bi-monthly
issues of digests on different materials and products. An advisory committee of
ACTAC members and other experts in the green building field reviewed the drafts
produced by ECRA and suggested topics for future issues of the digest.
Each of the chapters in the book is based on an issue which was distributed to
subscribers. The number of subscribers to the digest has grown steadily as, over
the last two to three years, interest in green building has increased enormously.
Support for the digest is strong and it is hoped to continue producing the digest
on a subscription basis, incorporating collected issues into further books. It was
also the intention that past issues would be reviewed and updated as new
information and research became available.
At the time of writing the digest was being relaunched through the Queens
University, Belfast, and readers can obtain issues of the digest, not included here
and information about further subscriptionfrom Queens University Belfast (01232
335 466) or ECRA (details can be found at the back of the book). Those who have
already seen the first 12 issues of the digest will find that there have been some
small modifications in the transference to a book format. Some duplication has
been omitted and the digests are now in a different and, hopefully, more logical
order. We have tried to bring the supplier information as up to date as possible,
but inevitably such information changes as the green building field is expanding
so rapidly at present.
Many people, including, in particular, the Association of Environment
Conscious Builders, have been very supportive in the production of the digest and
in the organisation of related events such as the annual Green Buildings Fair
viii
which has been organised annually in Leeds in 1995, ’96 and ’97. Indeed the whole
project is an example of the spirit of sharing and co-operation which has long been
the ethos of the technical aid movement since its foundation in the late 70s and
early 80s. For this reason we are keen to get feedback from readers and for anyone
with ideas and information to contribute, particularly with experience of applying
green building principles and materials. Our objective is to circulate this
experience and knowledge so that we can all benefit and thus, in the long run do
something to mitigate the damage which is being done in the name of development
and progress to the planet which we all inhabit. For this reason we have attempted
to be transparent about the sources of our information and methods behind the
production of the digest rather than present ourselves as experts, who restrict
access to information and specialist technical knowledge only making it available
on the payment of a substantial fee. Such expertise is an accumulation of shared
knowledge available to all who want to protect the environment rather than
something available to an elite.
Having said this, it is important to remember that to produce material of this
quality and usefulness costs money and at present it is not easy to raise research
funds in this field. Much of the accumulated knowledge is at a price and to continue
this work, minor support through subscriptions to the Green Building Digest and
more substantial funds will be needed. We are only scratching the surface of the
problem and much more work needs to be done before we can feel confident that
we know how to produce a perfect green building.
Tom Woolley Crossgar 1997
Acknowledgements
Ronnie Wright, Steve Smith, Lynn McCann, Debbie McCann, ACTAC Council
of Management (1995 onwards), Edward Walker, Department of the Environment
Environmental Action Fund, Charities Aid Foundation, Keith and Sally Hall
(Association for Environment Conscious Builders (AECB), Miles Sibley, Polyp
(Cartoons), Rita Harkin, Rachel Bevan
GBD Advisory Panel Members
Rob Bumbey (One Stop Architects), Christopher Day, Tom Smerdon (BSRIA),
Jonathan Hines (architype), Rod Nelson (Soil Association), Heimir Salt, Bret
Willers, Andrew Yates (Eco-Arc), Lindsay Halton, Steve Curwell, Sandy Haliday
(Gaia Research), Tom Woolley, Keith Hall
