Green Building Digest

Sam Kimmins, editor. ECRA Publish-ing, Unit 21, 41 Old Birley Street, Manchester, M15 5RF, England; +44 161 226 2929, +44 161 226 6277 (fax); Ethicon@mcr1.poptel.

org.uk (e-mail). $102 annually

Green Building Digest is a series of quarterly reports from the U.K. on the environmental performance of building materials for a particular application. The structure of the reports is similar to the “Application Reports” in the American Institute of Architect’s

Digest’s style is much less formal, however, with an occasional cartoon to lighten things up. Unlike the

ERG, the

Digest lists specific recommended products and suppliers, but these are limited to the U.K. Finally, the

Digest also carries advertising, although the ads are restricted to the back and inside front and back covers.

The main question with a resource of this sort is: “How thorough and reliable is the content?” Our assessment of the

Green Building Digest’s content is “very good to excellent.” Each report is heavily footnoted, with references to a wide range of sources. In a few cases, we wish the editor had taken a more critical look at some of the sources.

For example, in the “Toilets & Sewage Disposal” report, he provides what may be an overly rosy summary of the advantages of the Solar Aquatics system. For the most part, however, his assessments and summaries are top-notch.

by Tom Woolley, Sam Kimmins, Paul Harrison, and Rob Harrison. Routledge, Inc., London (+44 171 583 9855, +44 171 842 2298 fax) and New York (212/216-7800, 212/564-7854 fax). 1997, paperback, 220 pages, $49.95

The first dozen

Digest reports have been cleaned up and compiled into this handy reference volume. Unnecessary duplication (such as explanations of the comparison matrices) has been eliminated. An introductory overview of green building has been added, including some snapshot case studies and a brief discussion of issues relating to green material selection. The ads have also been omitted from this compilation but, fortunately, the cartoons have not!