Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification

The ultimate user's manual to green building materials -for building design that reuses our past and reimagines our future

When it comes to selecting and specifying green building materials, architects need more than innate design sense. They need real-world advice on how to select and use nontoxic, recycled, and recyclable products, and how to integrate them into the design process to capitalize on the many practical and economic advantages of "going green"-from reducing waste and improving energy efficiency to promoting proper code compliance and safeguarding against liability claims.

The latest addition to the Wiley Series in Sustainable Design, Green Building Materials is an excellent hands-on guide to today's wide range of green building materials-what they are, where to find them, and how to use them effectively. Written by two nationally known experts on green building methods and materials, Green Building Materials offers in-depth practical information on the product selection, product specification, and construction process. Organized by CSI MasterFormat(r) category for fast access to specific information, it features:
* Important guidance on how to evaluate the "greenness" of building materials, including a section-by-section specification summary of environmental issues
* Helpful sample forms to aid in selecting and specifying green materials
* A brief history of relevant environmental legislation and the evolution of environmentally conscious design
* An appendix listing useful sources of additional information. Green Building Materials is an essential tool for designing environmentally friendly buildings: ones made from materials that preserve the earth's natural legacy for future generations.

ROSS SPIEGEL, RA, FCSI, CCS, an expert on specifying green products, is an associate at Michael A. Shiff & Associates. DRU MEADOWS, AIA, CSI, CCS, is a cofounder and partner in the GreenTeam, Inc.