Sustainable Design Guide

Sustainable Design Guide

Sustainable Design Research Studio, January 1998. HOK, Inc., Canal House, 3223 Grace Street NW, Washington, DC 20007; 202/339-8700, 202/339-8800 (fax). Spiral-bound, ~250 pages, $23 postpaid.

First issued for in-house use in 1995, HOK’s Sustainable Design Guide has now been expanded, updated, and made publicly available for the first time. While it isn’t polished or pretty, the Guide contains a wealth of practical and useful guidance on green design. In contrast to its notebook-style layout, the contents are highly developed and refined.

The Sustainable Design Guide begins with a useful introduction and concludes with case studies, a detailed glossary, and reference listings. The bulk of the document, however, is in the form of lists: concise checklists and annotated lists of action items. The “Project Actions” list is organized into six general categories:

• Planning and Site Work
• Energy
• Materials
• Indoor Air Quality
• Water Conservation
• Recycling and Waste Management

Within each of these categories the actions are grouped by design or construction phase. Each item on these lists has a code indicating which profession or professions are primarily involved: architect, engineer, planner, and so on. A second system of codes flags items which might affect things like the construction schedule, construction cost, energy cost, or design fees.

The fact that this Guide is being offered to the general public at such a reasonable price reflects HOK’s commitment to sharing its expertise in green design. One of the reasons HOK might have for giving away this hard-won information is to generate greater awareness of its capabilities and services in environmentally friendly design. If the quality of this material is any indication, those services are well worth seeking out. In any case, every project team should have a copy of this Guide on hand at working sessions.