ASTM International Standards on Sustainability in Buildings

CD-ROM released in 2003 by ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Dr., PO Box C700, W. Conshohocken, PA 19428; 610-832-9585,

www.astm.org. Stock No.: Green03, $175 in North America, $193 elsewhere.

At the behest of its Committee E06.71 on Sustainability, ASTM has released a volume of its “Standards on CD-ROM” series focusing on sustainability in buildings. The CD brings together an eclectic collection of 127 ASTM standards for easy reference. Included in the mix are two standards pertaining directly to sustainability in buildings: E 2114 on terminology and E 2129 on data collection regarding building products (see

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 11 for details). Other standards on the CD run the gamut from soil testing to plastic lumber to solar collection systems to indoor air quality.

Given that ASTM has over 11,000 standards, many of which are connected in one way or another to sustainability, figuring out which to include on this CD could not have been an easy task. Some included standards, such as Standard C 1227 on precast concrete septic tanks, seem only tangentially related to the subject of sustainability. While two standards on the use of coal fly ash in concrete are included, standards on blended cements, which often include fly ash, are not. Perhaps the most unfortunate omissions are the two ASTM standards that are referenced in the LEED™ 2.1 Rating System: E 408 on emittance of surfaces and E 1903 on Phase II environmental site assessments.

In spite of these omissions, having all these standards on one CD makes it a useful resource. Given that the standards cost $25 to $60 each when purchased individually, if a handful of them are useful, the CD is a good investment. The CD is designed to run only on computers running Microsoft Windows^®, but Apple Macintosh^® users can use it as well with only a little inconvenience. A list of included standards can be found on ASTM’s Web site by performing a search for “green03,” and then clicking on “Check the Contents” in the lower left of the page describing the CD.

– NM