Ebook: The Green Guide to Specification: An Environmental Profiling System for Building Materials and Components, Third Edition

How can you tell if the materials and components you are specifying have a low environmental impact? A full life-cycle assessment is a complex, time-consuming and expensive process; the environmental ratings summarised in this Guide provide a quick and easy way for designers and specifiers to assess their options.

The relative environmental performance of over 250 materials and components have been assessed in this guide, using carefully researched, quantitative data derived from the BRE Environmental Database. A wide range of alternative specifications are provided for:

· walls
· floor systems
· floor finishes
· roofs
· windows
· doors
· ceilings
· paints
· insulation
· landscaping.

The performance of each specification is measured against a range of environmental impacts including:

· climate change
· toxicity
· fossil fuel and ozone depletion
· levels of emissions and pollutants
· mineral and water extraction.

Environmental performance is indicated by a simple to use A-B-C rating system. To further aid specifiers, guidance on capital coasts, typical replacement intervals and information on recycling is also provided for each material and component.

An important part of BREEAM, the BRE's widely accepted scheme to improve the environmental performance of buildings, The Green Guide to Specification is an essential tool for architects, surveyors, building managers and property owners seeking to reduce the environmental impacts of building materials through informed choice.Content:
Chapter 1 A Global Issue (page 2):
Chapter 2 The Purpose of This Book (pages 2–4):
Chapter 3 How This Edition of The Green Guide to Specification Relates to Other BRE (pages 4–6):
Chapter 4 Green Procurement (page 6):
Chapter 5 Life Cycle Assessment (pages 7–8):
Chapter 6 Sources of LCA Data in The Green Guide to Specification (page 8):
Chapter 7 Environmental Issues (pages 9–11):
Chapter 8 How The Green Guide to Specification was Compiled (pages 11–13):
Chapter 9 Layout of the Element Sections (page 16):
Chapter 10 Functional Unit (page 16):
Chapter 11 Building Pie Charts (pages 16–17):
Chapter 12 Summary Rating Range (page 17):
Chapter 13 Significant Environmental Issues for Elements (page 17):
Chapter 14 Ratings Tables (pages 17–18):
Chapter 15 Using the Ratings (pages 18–19):
Chapter 16 The Importance of Different Elements (pages 19–20):
Chapter 17 Arrangement of the Building Elements (page 20):
Chapter 18 Upper Floor (pages 23–25):
Chapter 19 External Walls (pages 27–37):
Chapter 20 Roofs (pages 39–45):
Chapter 21 Floor Finishes and Coverings (pages 47–50):
Chapter 22 Substructural Floor Systems/Floor Surfacing (pages 51–52):
Chapter 23 Windows and Curtain Walling (pages 53–54):
Chapter 24 Internal Walls and Partitioning (pages 55–58):
Chapter 25 Suspended Ceilings and Ceiling Finishes (pages 59–60):
Chapter 26 Doors (pages 63–65):
Chapter 27 Internal Paint Finishes (pages 67–68):
Chapter 28 Insulation (pages 69–73):
Chapter 29 Landscaping: Hard Surfacing (pages 75–76):
Chapter 30 Landscaping: Boundary Protection (pages 77–78):