Materials for a Healthy, Ecological and Sustainable Built Environment: Principles for Evaluation

Principles for Evaluating Building Materials in Sustainable Construction: Healthy and Sustainable Materials for the Built Environment provides a comprehensive overview of the issues associated with the selection of materials for sustainable construction, proposing a holistic and integrated approach.

The book evaluates the issues involved in choosing materials from an ecosystem services perspective, from the design stage to the impact of materials on the health of building users.

The three main sections of the book discuss building materials in relation to ecosystem services, the implications of materials choice at the design stage, and the impact of materials on building users and their health. The final section focuses on specific case studies that illustrate the richness of solutions that existed before the rise of contemporary construction and that are consistent with a sustainable approach to creating built environments. These are followed by modern examples which apply some, if not all, of the principles discussed in the first three sections of the book.

Provides a holistic and integrated approach to the issues associated with the selection of materials for sustainable construction Provides a thorough understanding of ecosystem services based on ecology research for built environment design Provides an original review of the impact of materials on human healthProvides case studies to illustrate the points above

Part I: Selecting Building Materials for Reduced Impacts on Ecosystem Services: Ecosystem Services Analysis 1. Utilizing relationships between ecosystem services, built environments, and building materials 2. Ecosystem services analysis: Incorporating an understanding of ecosystem services into built environment design and materials selection

Part II: Choosing Sustainable Materials 3. Building materials 4. Materials and buildings

Part III: Indoor Toxicity from Building Materials 5. A lack of recognition of potential health risks from building materials 6. Persisting issues with the most recognized building material health risks: Lead and asbestos 7. How substances get regulated against in the building industry: Formaldehyde, phthalate plasticizers in polyvinyl chloride/vinyl 8. New and less recognized risks with building materials: Volatile organic compounds, replacement chemicals, and nanoparticles 9. An overview of health hazards from materials: Application of principles

Part IV: Case Studies 10. Sustainability and the material aspect of traditional residential buildings in Serbia 11. Palm thatched building in Mexico 12. The effect of global trade on the New Zealand house 13. Thurgoona Campus: A living laboratory of healthy and sustainable materials 14. The Hockerton Housing Project: A case study of the use of concrete 15. Lambie House: Deconstruction and eco-refurbishment 16. Meridian: New Zealand’s first Green Star-rated building 17. Sustainable and healthy building practice in Germany 18. The Bullitt Center: A “Living Building”