Construction Ecology Nature as a Basis for Green Buildings

About this book

Designers of the built environment can learn much from the mature field of industrial ecology as they focus increasingly on green or sustainable construction. Natural systems are the ideal model not only for human systems but also for the built environment in which they live and function. The principles of design, energy, the flow of materials, and closed loop behaviour can all be understood in this context. Industrial ecology provides a sound means of systematising the various ideas which come under the banner of sustainable construction and provides a model for the design, operation and ultimate disposal of buildings. Professionals such as architects, materials suppliers, engineers, planners and construction managers, and students and academics in these disciplines, should find this book a valuable tool. Charles J. Kibert, Jan Sendzimir, G. Bradley Guy, James Kay, University of Waterloo, Tim Allen, University of Wisconsin. Garry Peterson, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. Robert A

Contents

Contents: Foreword. Preface. Introduction. 1. Defining an Ecology of Construction. Part 1. The Ecologists. 2. Material Circulation, Energy Hierarchy, and Building Construction. 3. On Complexity Theory, Exergy, and Industrial Ecology, 4. Applying the Principles of Ecological Emergence to Building Design and Construction. 5. Using Ecological Dynamics to Move Towards an Adaptive Architecture. Part 2. The Industrial Ecologists. 6. Minimizing Waste Emissions from the Built Environment. 7. Industrial Ecology and the Built Environment. 8. Construction Ecology and Metabolism. 9. Construction Ecology. Part 3. The Architects. 10. Ecologic Analogues and Architecture. 11. Natural Metabolism as the Basis for "Intelligent" Architecture. 12. Green Architecture. Conclusions. Glossary Index.

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Biography

Charles J. Kibert, Director of the Rinker School of Building Construction, University of Florida, is one of the authors of the concept known as sustainable construction. Jan Sendzimir is a systems ecologist at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria and is fostering the large-scale application of adaptive management in Central Europe, especially Poland. Brad Guy, an architect, is a Research Associate in the Center for Construction and Environment at the University of Florida and is an internationally recognized expert on building deconstruction and materials reuse.