Time-Saver Standards for Architectural Design Data: The Reference of Architectural Fundamentals, 7th Edition

Donald Watson, FAIA, editor-in-chief; Michael J. Crosbie, PhD, senior editor; John Hancock Callender, in memoriam. McGraw-Hill, 1997. Hardcover, 1034 pages, $150.

Time-Saver Standards has guided two generations of architects in building design. This 7th Edition (the first in 12 years) consists almost entirely of new material, provided by over 80 authors.

In addition to the trademark

Time-Saver reference material presented in a clear, concise, highly graphic format, there is a new 250-page front section on Architectural Fundamentals—with 21 sections on broad issues of building design, such as bioclimatic design, daylighting, natural ventilation, IAQ, environmental life-cycle assessment, building commissioning, and building performance modeling.

As

EBN readers familiar with editors Don Watson and Mike Crosbie might suspect, the new

Time-Saver Standards includes a wealth of information on issues relating to green design. Among contributing authors are Hal Levin on IAQ, Joel Todd and

EBN editors Malin and Wilson on environmental life-cycle assessment, Harry Gordon on C&D waste management, Joe Lstiburek on moisture control, Stephen Selkowitz and John Carmody on residential windows, Bill Bobenhausen on residential and commercial energy systems, and Everett Barber on solar water heating and building-integrated photovoltaics. Though both commercial and residential buildings are addressed, we were surprised to find as much residential focus as we did—this may diminish the book’s value to firms that do exclusively commercial work.

Though certainly not inexpensive,

Time-Saver Standards can indeed be a huge time-saver. And if you use the six-pound (3 kg) tome enough, you’ll save even more time by not having to go to the gym to work out!