Energy and Environmental Issues for the Practising Architect

Producing an energy efficient and environmentally friendly building can be a daunting task for the every day architect, who may only be commissioned infrequently to produce such a building. This book aims to remove the mystery and complexity from this process by helping the architect understand and put into practice the many issues involved in generating an energy efficient and environmentally friendly design. It is not intended to be a technical manual on energy issues, rather it gives an overview of, and practical advice on how to implement the wide range of topics that must be addressed at the early stage in the design process.The book is divided into three sections. The first deals with the background to energy and environmental issues and why it is important to consider them in building design. The second section explains how the various design elements can affect the overall performance of the building. This section is written so that an architect will obtain sufficient understanding of them. The third section takes the architect through the initial design process presenting simplified methods and rules of thumb solutions for assessing the impact of each design issue on the likely performance of the building. Finally several case studies of a range of buildings from the UK, Switzerland, Germany and France show how it is possible to produce such buildings within normally accepted design parameters and cost yardsticks.The book is aimed at anyone who has an interest in the design and procurement of buildings. In particular to the practising architect and students of architecture along with those studying or practising in the design related fields.