The Ecology of Architecture: A Complete Guide to Creating the Environmentally Conscious Building

The Ecology

of Architecture:

by Laura C. Zeiher. 1996, Whitney Library of Design (an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications), New York. Hardcover, 270 pages, $55.

The Ecology of Architecture is a very broad work, including background theory on ecological design, profiles of practitioners, and detailed case studies of green buildings. It is produced as a high-quality, coffee-table book with many photographs and diagrams. Unfortunately, the content is poorly organized and of inconsistent quality, so this book falls far short of the comprehensive, overview text it aspires to be.

This book is at its best in Chapter 2, where it presents the philosophies and designs of several high-profile practitioners, including Bob Berkebile, The Croxton Collaborative, Susan Maxman, William McDonough, John Picard, and James Wines. Relying heavily on the designers’ own words, Zeiher succeeds in offering some insight into the personalities and priorities of these standard-bearers. She also provides very brief profiles of several projects from each designer, which put the issues in a useful context. Later in the book, eight very detailed case studies provide further insight into the work of these and other architects.

The Ecology of Architecture is weakest where it addresses the scientific and technological underpinnings of ecological design. The Introduction, which is an overview of the relevant environmental issues, is awkwardly written and sometimes misleading. For example, the very first section, entitled “Chlorofluorocarbons,” discusses global warming and the international phase-out of CFCs, but doesn’t mention ozone-depletion, which is the reason for the phase-out. The most significant contributor to global warming, carbon dioxide, is mentioned only in passing. To make matters worse, temperatures are incorrectly converted from Celsius to Fahrenheit, causing a couple of absurd statements, such as: “…global warming was estimated in 1973 to increase the surface temperature of the Earth at 34°F (1°C) per year.”

In general, the book goes into great detail on matters of peripheral importance, such as the makeup of

various types of PV cells, while confusing more basic points. For example, the seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) is called the

super energy efficiency ratio, and exfiltration of heated air from a building is described as “radiation.”

In its effort to address all aspects of environmentally conscious design from different perspectives,

The Ecology of Architecture is superficial and even misleading in some areas, while unnecessarily detailed in others. On the other hand, it is quite attractive and the only text currently available that covers the entire field, so in spite of its many errors it should be a useful reference in many libraries.