Sustainable Design Databases for Computers

Sustainable Design Databases for Computers

REDI Guide™Andy Johnson, Editor. On diskette for Macintosh or Windows. Iris Communications, Inc., 258 East 10th Avenue, Suite E, Eugene, OR 97401-3284; 800/346-0104, 503/484-1645 (fax). $49, plus $5 for postage & handling.

Harris Directory: Recycled Content Building Materials, Second EditionB.J. Harris, Editor. On diskette for Macintosh or Windows. Stafford-Harris, Inc., 1916 Pike Place, #705, Seattle, WA 98101-1056; 206/682-4042, 206/447-1670. $45 postpaid, $69 with semi-annual update.

The National Park Service Sustainable Design and Construction DatabaseSally Small, Editor. On diskette for Windows only. NPS-DSC, PO Box 24287, Denver, CO 80225; 303/969-2466, 303/969-2930 (fax), e-mail: sally_small@nps.gov. $7 postpaid.

Computer disks are a natural format for storing and organizing product databases, so it’s not surprising that, following a generation of product directories in print, we now have several on disk. All three of these directories are similar in overall number of listings but differ greatly otherwise. Each includes numerous listings omitted by the others, so having all three may make sense for some people. Otherwise, the details below should help you choose the best one for your needs.

Of the three directories, the

REDI Guide is the most user-friendly, with straightforward on-screen buttons for finding products and navigating through lists. This database organizes green products into one or more of four categories: recycled content, low-toxic, sustainable forestry, and natural. The “Find” screen lets you search for products based on these categories, on company name, product name, CSI (Construction Specifications Institute) division, region of distribution, keyword, or any combination of these. In spite of all these possibilities, it often takes several attempts to find the right keywords for a given product. Once you’ve found a list of products, clicking on one of them brings up a screen with detailed information, including price, where available (in about 30% of the listings).

On the down side, lists of products can only be viewed on-screen; they cannot be printed. Also, the one-size-fits-all screen is too large for a lap-top, making it almost unusable on such machines because you can’t see both the headings and the navigation buttons simultaneously. Finally, the data is not modifiable, so you cannot supplement or update the files as you check up on the products.

The Harris Directory (version 1 reviewed in EBN

Vol. 3, No. 2) doesn’t have the sophisticated navigation aids, so it helps if you’re familiar with the software that it’s running on. (It is available in several spreadsheet and database versions.) B. J. Harris cons- cien­tiously verifies and updates the listings every six months, so they are the most accurate and up-to-date of any database we’ve seen. As the title suggests, the primary focus of this database is on recycled-content products. Within that category, it is by far the most comprehensive. There is somewhat less detail on each product than in the

REDI Guide, and cost information isn’t listed at all.

The National Park Service (NPS) database has some additional features, including an entire second database of material recyclers nationwide, a resource listing, and introductory text to each CSI division. It also includes a system of icons identifying each product’s environmental benefits. (In the database of recyclers, similar icons identify the materials each recycler accepts.)

In general, the listings in the NPS database are comparable to those in the

REDI Guide, though somewhat less accurate and up-to-date. More problematic, however, are two formatting flaws that greatly inhibit this database’s utility. First, you can search the products listing

only by CSI category and by state. No other search options are offered. The recyclers listing can be searched only by state. Having such limited search options means extensive scrolling to find a particular listing. Second, the program comes on six diskettes, and requires a whopping 60 megabytes of free hard-disk space on a computer running Windows. Requiring so much memory is inexcusable for the amount of information the database contains, and it makes the overall cost of using it higher than either of the other two.

Hopefully, future editions of the NPS database will be reformatted to require less memory and for more flexible searches. A CD-ROM version is planned, though that, too, seems like an unnecessarily expensive format for the type of data included. Until that database is made more workable, invest in one of the other two:

The Harris Directory, if recycled content is your main interest, or the

REDI Guide, for more general listings.