Environmental Code of Practice for Buildings and Their Services

The Ultimate Green Building Checklist

Environmental Code of Practice for Buildings and Their Services by S. P. Halliday. Published May, 1994 by The Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), Old Bracknell Lane West, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 7AH, United Kingdom; 44-344-426511, 44-344-487575 (fax). Cost is £45 (about $70) including overseas shipping. Spiral-bound, 128 pages. To order send a check drawn on a U.K. bank, or mail or fax a credit card order (VISA, Access, or American Express).

Unlike anything else we’ve seen, this

Code of Practice is a real workbook for making greener buildings. The book focuses on

process—coordinating the many parties and stages of a project so nothing falls through the cracks—as is especially well-suited to architects and others coordinating the building process. Although Halliday is trained as a mechanical systems engineer (building services engineer in the U.K.), her experience as a consultant on green buildings is much broader. As a result, siting, structure, and material choices are all covered alongside building services.

The bulk of the book is a long series of annotated checklists, one for every stage in the life of a building from inception to dismantling. These checklists highlight important points to consider at each stage, and they’re accompanied by comments that clarify and expand on the various points.

Special attention is given to transitions between the various stages, when careful communication is required to keep the environmental agenda intact. While incorporating environmental considerations from the earliest stages is clearly preferable, the book also helps to work them in later if necessary.

The

Code of Practice does not attempt to provide the details needed to follow through on each point in the checklists. Suggestions about building systems encourage designers to opt for simple solutions and avoid oversizing or overspecifying equipment. Other technical details are provided only occasionally and are not always very helpful. For example, several tables on environmental criteria for building material selection are provided, but these are too general and simplistic to be of much value. Information on relevant legal and code issues is provided throughout, but these are specific to the U.K.

The

Environmental

Code of Practice for Buildings and Their Services is full of common sense and good advice for anyone working on green buildings. The British context makes some of the specific information irrelevant in North America, and language may be a slight barrier for some. (Anyone interested in sponsoring an American version should contact the author. Meanwhile, knowing that “tender” means “bid” will help.) As a process guide and project checklist, however, this is an outstanding handbook for practitioners.