Materials for a Healthy, Ecological and Sustainable Built Environment

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the issues associated with the selection of materials for sustainable construction and proposes a holistic and integrated approach. It evaluates the issues involved in choosing materials from an ecosystem services perspective, through the process of the design stage to the impact of materials on the health of building users. The core aim of the book is that none of these aspects should be considered in isolation, but rather that a full evaluation of the appropriateness of a material for sustainable construction requires engagement at all these levels. The three main sections of the book discuss building materials in relation to ecosystem services, the implications of materials choice at the design stage, and impact of materials on building users and their health. The final section then focuses on specific case studies illustrating these principles. The historical case studies illustrate the richness of solutions that existed before the rise of contemporary construction and that are consistent with a sustainable approach to creating built environments. These are followed by modern examples which apply some, if not all, of the principles discussed in the first three sections of the book. Provides a thorough understanding of ecosystem services based on ecology research and shows how this can be linked more explicitly and practically with built environment design and used in a quantifiable wayProposes principles for the evaluation and appropriateness of building and furnishing materials for sustainable constructionCase studies illustrating principles that are consistent with a sustainable approach to creating built environments