GREEN BUILDING INFORMATION RESOURCES

(An expanded version of the resource list in the Ecology department of Landscape Architecture magazine, October 2001)

General / Green Design

Barnett, Dianna Lopez, with William Browning. A Primer on Sustainable Building. An introductory guide to sustainable building principles and concepts.

Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST), www.crest.org. Features documents, databases, publications, and articles for new information regarding sustainable living, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. Contains discussion groups for green building.

Childs, Mark. Parking Spaces: A Design Implementation and Use Manual for Architects, Planners and Engineers. Strategies for creating greener parking lots. Particularly strong chapter on the environmental effects of parking lots and ideas for reducing the effects.

Clayton, Richard A., and Thomas Schueler. Design of Stormwater Filtering Systems. A detailed manual of 11 different filtering systems to remove pollutants from urban runoff.

Environmental Building News, www.buildinggreen.com. Archives on CD-ROM, some articles on web site. The leading source for new green building practices. Monthly periodical contains a surprisingly large amount of technical information applicable to landscape architects. Also contains current news, green building events, book reviews, and product info. Web site contains some articles, product reviews, and an e-mail discussion group for professionals.

Environmental Design and Construction, www.edcmag.com. Good source for green products, especially their annual product directory. Not as rigorous about defining what is green. Helpful articles, geared mostly to architects. Free to qualified subscribers.

Environmental Design Library at U.C. Berkeley, www.lib.berkeley.edu/envi/GreenBuild. Extensive list of books and periodicals on green building.

Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov. Access to listings of programs, initiatives, research, newsletters, publications, and software. Links to pertinent web sites.

Environmental Resources, Inc. Useful Internet Addresses for Sustainable Builders, Designers, and Planners, by Wesley Groesbeck. 1997. 801-485-0280.

Ferguson, Bruce K. Introduction to Stormwater: Concept Purpose Design. Principles of hydrology and information on wetland construction, groundwater recharge, and water harvesting.

Global Environmental Options, www.geonetwork.org. Web site contains green design news, links to the Green Design Network, Greening of the Parks, and Sprawl web sites, as well as a searchable link library and a green bookstore.

Green Building Advisor, www.buildinggreen.com (under Products and Services). CD-ROM database of more than 700 green building strategies that can be customized to provide checklists for specific types of projects.

Green Building Resource Center, www.greendesign.net/gbrc/index.html. Contains 600 green building resources of books, web sites, case study projects with contact information.

GreenClips, www.greendesign.net/greenclips. Free online biweekly newsletter that summarizes recent articles on environmentally responsible architecture, landscape, planning, development, and related government and business issues.

Kibert, Charles J., ed. Reshaping the Built Environment: Ecology, Ethics and Economics. Series of essays providing a good overview of the green building field.

Lyle, John T. Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development. Principles and technology of regenerative systems. Many case studies are included from the Center for Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona and other projects.

Maryland Department of the Environment. Maryland Stormwater Design Manual. Stormwater management strategies to protect water and land resources.

McHarg, Ian. Design with Nature. A classic and still one of the best for sustainable principles.

Mendler, Sandra, and William Odell, eds. The HOK Guidebook to Sustainable Design. A comprehensive book with process checklists, strategies for implementation, and good case studies from a firm that is doing green design within real-world projects. Bridges the gap between principles and implementation. Good glossary and resource list.

Stitt, Fred A. Ecological Design Handbook: Sustainable Strategies for Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design and Planning. A compilation of essays and chapters from other published works. Content and level of detail vary from chapter to chapter. Only moderately useful for landscape architects.

Sustainable Development Database. E-design resources, http://sustainable.state.fl.us/fdi/edesign/resource/index.html. A searchable database of sustainable and best-practices resources developed by practicing Florida professionals.

Sustainable Sources, www.greenbuilder.com. Sponsored by City of Austin Green Builder Program. Contains a web version of the Sustainable Building Sourcebook (information needed to implement alternative or green building practices and info on alternative technologies). Also lists green building resources, databases, listservs, and links.

Thompson, J. William, and Kim Sorvig. Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Building Outdoors. The most comprehensive book for sustainable landscape architecture. Offers principles of sustainable landscape design and the strategies, technology, and resources to implement them. Very accessible and comprehensive materials and energy chapters.

U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service Tech Info Center. Guiding Principles of Sustainable Design. Available on web at www.nps.gov/dsc/dsgncnstr/gpsd. Principles for sustainable development, particularly for parks and recreational facilities.

U.S. Green Building Council, www.usgbc.org.leed. Green Building Assessment System criteria provides real strategies for green building. Reference Guide Version 2.0 provides information on the importance of credits; summaries of reference standards, design, technology, and strategies for details; design synergies and tradeoffs; case studies; and economics (currently being revised). LEED Training Workshops-how to do green building and how to use the system. Attendees get a free reference guide. USGBC Regional Meetings held in some locations for exchange of information and to allow local green building practitioners to meet.

WaterWiser, www.waterwiser.org. Web site with water conservation strategies, links, other resources.

Green Materials, Products, and Specifications

California Integrated Waste Management Board Recycled Content Product Database, www.ciwmb.ca.gov/rcp. Recycled content product database and resource listing.

Demkin, Joseph, ed. AIA Environmental Resource Guide. Book and CD-ROM. Life-cycle assessment of materials and application reports comparing material groups. Unfortunately the Resource Guide, last revised in 1998, will not be further updated.

Forestworld, www.forestworld.com. Resource on forest certification and certified wood products. Users can search by FSC certification in database.

Green Seal, www.greenseal.org. Database that gives the green seal of approval to products that cause less harm to the environment than other products (currently closed for repair).

GreenSpec: The Environmental Building News Product Directory and Guideline Specifications, by Dwight Holmes, Larry Strain, Alex Wilson, Sandra Leibowitz. Also GreenSpec Binder, www.greenspec.com. Directory of 1,400 green-building materials and products screened by the editors and authors of Environmental Building News. Includes guideline specifications. Criteria for product inclusion is stated, unlike many other databases. Specifications available online for downloading by subscribers. Directory will be online to paid subscribers by the end of 2001. Second part is a binder of manufacturers' product literature for some of the listings.

Groesbeck, Wesley A., and Jan Striefel, ASLA. Sustainable Landscapes & Gardens: The Resource Guide. Contains 2,100 records of sustainable information sources, landscape materials, and product suppliers available in the United States. None of the products are rated or analyzed. Also contains information on sustainable practices and methods. OUT OF PRINT since 1996, but libraries and used-book stores might have copies.

Harris Guide, www.harrisdirectory.com/welcome.html. A database of recycled-content and pollution-preventing products for home, office, and garden. Lists manufacturer contact info and web site, product description, CSI format, environmental benefits, government procurement keywords, links to web sites. Subscription fee. Site closed for updates. Expected to be available on CD-ROM in August 2001. List of reuse and materials exchange services on web site. Direct address is http://harrisdirectory.com/reused.html.

Kernan, Paul, Richard Kadulski, and Michael Labrie. Old to New Design Guide: Salvaged Building Materials in New Construction. Guide to designing with and specifying salvaged building materials. Geared to architects, but good case studies.

Mumma, Tracy. Guide to Resource-Efficient Building Elements, www.crbt.org. Listing of resource-efficient building products and materials geared to residential construction, some landscape info. Focusing mostly on plastic lumber and paving products. Strong in area of alternatives to wood products. Also online as a free searchable database updated annually.

Recycled Products Buyer's Guide, www.recyclingmarkets.net. Recycled products and materials database by product. Somewhat confusing to negotiate but contains helpful references.

REDI Guide Resources for Environmental Design Index, www.oikos.com/redi. Free database of green building products, library, and links to other interesting sites.

Spiegel, Ross, and Dru Meadows. Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification. Reference for selection of green materials and products (not a listing of products themselves) and sample specification language.

Wastespec, www.tjcog.dst.nc.us/cdwaste.htm, by Judith Kincaid, Cheryl Walker, Greg Flynn, and the North Carolina Council of Governments. Model specifications for construction waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.

Land Use and Community Planning

American Planning Association Smart Growth, www.planning.org/plnginfo/growsmar/gsindex.html. Information on development, planning issues, and alternatives to sprawl.

Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development, www.sustainable.doe.gov. Site helps communities plan and implement sustainable development.

Dramstad, Wenche, James D. Olson, and Richard T. T. Forman. Landscape Ecology Principles in Landscape Architecture. Principles of landscape ecology and their applications. Helpful diagrams and graphics.

Fader, Steven. Density by Design: New Directions in Residential Development, 2nd Edition. Urban Land Institute. Case studies, including site plans, unit plans, development information, and costs of innovative residential development.

Porter, Douglas. The Practice of Sustainable Development. Urban Land Institute. Principles and practice issues of sustainable and ecologically sensitive development.

Rocky Mountain Institute and Alex Wilson. Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate. Addresses ecologically sensitive development issues. Contains many case studies and information on marketing and implementation. Has a companion CD-ROM with many resources for environmental design and construction.

Smart Growth Network: Development that serves Economy, Community and Environment, www.smartgrowth.org. Information on development, planning issues, and alternatives to sprawl.

Thompson, George F., and Fredrick R. Steiner, eds. Ecological Design and Planning. Essays on ecological planning and landscape architecture.