Green Building Resource Guide

by John Hermannsson, AIA. The Taunton Press, Newtown, Con-necticut, 1997. Paperback, 150 pages, $37.95.

Fine Homebuilding magazine, is the latest in a series of green building product directories. It is the first, however, to be published by a mainstream publisher, and its clean styling and consistent format show the benefits of working with experienced publishing professionals.

Each of the nearly 600 listings includes contact information for the manufacturer, a brief description of the product, icons representing categories of environmental benefit, and a price index comparing the cost of the product to its most likely conventional alternative. The contact information appears to be accurate and up-to-date, though e-mail and Web site addresses are lacking. The descriptions, while quite short, are very carefully researched and reliable.

The icon(s) accompanying each listing are meant to help explain what qualities justified the product’s inclusion in the

Guide. The categories used are: nontoxic; recycled content; resource efficient; long life cycle; and environmentally conscious. Of these, the “long life cycle” category is perhaps too inclusive, allowing inclusion of any product with above average durability, such as vinyl windows with integral color. Also, the “environmentally conscious” category is too general to be informative.

The price index is perhaps the

Guide’s most useful feature, as it allows for a quick rough estimate of the cost of choosing a particular item. Much of this price information is based on figures provided by sales reps, so it may be a bit optimistic. Nevertheless, it is interesting to leaf through the

Guide and see that many products cost no more than their conventional counterparts, and some actually cost less.

The

Guide is organized by the 16-division system of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), which may be an unfortunate choice as that system is not familiar to most homebuilders—the primary intended audience. Two good indices, one by product type and the other by manufacturer name, are provided to help non-architects find what they’re looking for. We wouldn’t suggest purchasing this directory to the exclusion of all the others, but for those who regularly specify green products, it’s certainly worth adding this one to the resource desk.