Greening Federal Facilities: An Energy, Environmental, and Economic Resource Guide for Federal Facility Managers and Designers, 2nd Edition2

edited by Alex Wilson. U.S. Department of Energy, May 2001. Paperback and/or downloadable PDF file, 200 pages, free. Order from

www.eren.doe.gov/femp/ordermaterials.html or by calling 800/363-3732; or download from

www.eren.doe.gov/femp/techassist/green_fed_facilities.html.

Greening Federal Facilities is aimed at managers and developers of federal buildings but is relevant to anyone involved with nonresidential design and construction. BuildingGreen edited and redesigned the document, coordinating input from a dozen contributors and nearly 100 reviewers. The book is a compilation of two-page fact sheets on more than 90 specific design approaches or technologies, organized into nine parts:

I. Rationale

II.Environmental and Energy

Decision-Making

III.Site

IV.Building Design

V.Energy Systems

VI.Water and Wastewater

VII.Materials, Waste Management,

and Recycling

VIII.Indoor Environmental Quality

IX.Managing BuildingsEach fact sheet is divided into four subtopics: Opportunities, Technical Information, References, and Contacts, supplemented with photos, tables, and sidebars.

The section on “Energy Systems” section is still the most extensive, but it is balanced with substantial additions in other areas. “Site and Landscape” and “Materials” sections are greatly expanded in this edition, and the new section on “Building Design” emphasizes the benefits of an integrated design approach. The document’s usability is improved with a new layout presenting each discrete topic on its own two-page spread, among other adjustments.

Given our obvious conflict of interest, we won’t comment here on the quality of this revision, but at this price it is a low-risk acquisition that may prove valuable.

– NM