Recent books on sustainability

Green Dream: How Future Cities Can Outsmart Nature

The Why Factory, NAI Publishers, June 2010, £29.95

I was slightly apprehensive about yet another book attempting to give a statistical overview on sustainability. With the quantity of knowledge and research in the field, is it still possible to summarise it in a single volume? The answer is no, but this book by Winy Maas’s The Why Factory does show that it can still be enlightening to try to get your head around the big picture.

The first half of the book is a delightfully fresh overview, probing the broad subject of “green”, without trying to offer solutions. Topics range from the appearance of green buildings, to whether we need to eat local food, to the frailty of the green economy. It sets out to give the view of a “curious outsider” and is generally successful in avoiding the normal preconceptions and prejudices. This alone merits its recommendation as a primer on the subject. As more of an insider in the field I found it refreshing and insightful.

Likewise, the section of interviews offers a broad spectrum of current ideas, despite being Dutch-heavy. The plug for The Why Factory’s new research and development project, The Green Calculator, is disappointing and I was unconvinced that this proposed new method of calculating the greenness of cities is going to change, or even help, the way we design cities.

The great talent of Winy Maas and The Why Factory lies in their ability to bring statistics to visual life and think from first principals, which is the topic of the culminating sections where they design a green city based on their statistical data, and then present some utopian visions by other designers. Although Green Dream’s utopian finale doesn’t bring much new (and certainly nothing realistic) to the broader debate, I would still recommend it as a delightful and thought-provoking read.

Biodiversity for Low and Zero Carbon Buildings: A Technical Guide for New Build

Carol Williams, RIBA Publishing, March 2010, £30

This niche subject is receiving increasing attention and is likely to continue to do so, even if for no other reason than the credits for it in the Code for Sustainable Homes.

For people needing reference material, this is a thorough, clear and information-packed book.

It avoids the trap of trying to make itself an interesting read and sticks to factual text and a clear layout.

My only criticism is that the example details are not generic, and diagrams of detailing principles could be better.

A good book for the reference library.

Transforming Markets in the Built Environment:Adapting to Climate Change

edited by Sue Roaf, Earthscan, March 2010, £75

Despite the ambitious title, this was a frustrating read – a collection of dry and verbose academic essays with little to say for themselves. Topics include consumer motivation and developing new design principles. Although there are occasional clever insights, these generally fail to lead to meaningful conclusions. I was left wondering who this book was intended for. I can only conclude it is an academic’s book for other academics.