101 Rules of Thumb for Sustainable Buildings and Cities

Preface

The first book in the 101 Rules of Thumb series concentrated on how to design low-energy-use buildings, which is just one subject within the much bigger picture of sustainable design. This second title focuses on that big picture.

As a species, we spend 90% of our time in buildings–and, since the year 2000, more of us now live in cities than in rural conditions. Entire new cities are emerging in the developing world, and mega-cities are forming as existing urban centres merge–all of which puts an increased pressure on the planet’s ecosystems. As a result, people across the world are becoming more aware of the need to design, construct and manage a sustainable building stock.

Despite this, a lack of clear guidance for sustainable architecture ...