The Ecological Design Handbook

The Ecological Design Handbook is the best A-TO-Z book available on "green" design. This text covers everything from alternative energy source hardware to design, aesthetics, permaculture, bioremediation, interior air quality, hybrid construction energy-saving retrofitting, materials, cohousing, infrastructure and the New Urbanism. The book includes practical guidance on financing, zoning, and implementation with up-to-the-minute ideas of international leaders in the field. This text is 480 pages.

The Ecological Design Handbook - Table of Contents:

• Part I: Architecture and Building: The Greatest Opportunity
  • Why Go Green?
  • Green Building Design
  • Why is Architecture Oblivious to the Environment
  • Design Theory
• Part II: Site
  • Nature and Architecture
  • How to Uncover the Secrets of the Land
  • Selecting a Site for Your Passive Solar Home
  • The Living Landscape: An Ecological Approach to Landscape Planning
  • The Passive Solar Concept
  • Passive Solar: Sunspaces and Special Design Considerations
  • Calculating Solar Energy and Power
  • Building the Home Energy Machine
  • Wind Power Evaluating the Technology-What Works and What Doesn't
• Part IV: Alternative Materials and Construction
  • History and Evolution of Earth Construction
  • Benefits of Straw Bale Construction
  • The Building Envelope: Walls, Roofs, and Foundations
  • Earth Casting
• Part V: Alternative Living
  • The Case for Reuse
  • Cluster Development
  • Indoor Air Quality
  • Villages Around the World
• Part VI: Eco Politics
  • The Seduction of Planning
  • The Economics of Building Codes and Standards
• Part VII: Waste, Bioremediaiton, & Permaculture
  • Living Machines
  • From Bioshelters to Solar Villages to Future Human Settlements
  • Living Machines and the Years Ahead
• Part VIII: Architects and Their Work
  • The House That Max Built