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Sustainability

Sustainable development

Water management
Waterproofing/damp proofing
Weather/Climate

Welfare facilities
Wind Power
Windows and doors

Water management

Basic Books

Bottomless well: the twilight of fuel, the virtue of waste, and why we will never run out of energy, 2006
Explains why energy is not scarce, why the quality of energy is more important than quantity, and why waste of energy is both necessary and desirable. In 'The Bottomless Well', Huber and Mills debunk the myths and show how a better understanding of energy will radically change our views and policies on a number of very controversial issues. They explain why demand will never go down, why most of what we think of as energy waste actually benefits us, why greater efficiency will never lead to energy conservation and why the energy supply is infinite - it's quality of energy that's scarce and expensive.

BBC Books

It's not easy being green: one family's journey towards eco-friendly living, 2006
Dick Strawbridge and his family decided that they needed to reduce theirs eco footprint. This meant reducing the amount of land, water and other natural resources required to support their lifestyle. To accompany the BBC2 TV series, this book chronicles the Strawbridge family's journey from a perfectly normal life and house in the Midlands to a self-sufficient environmentally friendly dream home in the West Country.

Building Research Establishment

Sustainability and green Issues pack, 2005

Information Paper 11/93 Ecolabelling of building materials and building products, 1993
Building specifiers are demanding more information on the environmental impacts of building materials and products, encouraged in part by a European Community regulation on ecolabelling. Ecolabelling is a complex subject and there are no simple ways of developing criteria for the award of a label.
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Information Paper 15/98 Water conservation, 1998
Water conservation has become increasingly important in the UK as demand for water has increased and shortfalls in supply have occurred. There is growing public awareness of the scarcity of water in some areas of the UK and of its economic value. The benefits of conserving water include: maintain the availability of the water supply during drought periods; reduced pumping and treatment costs (with associated energy savings); wastewater reduction, protection of the environment and the possible reduction in costs for the consumer.
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Report 478 Mound filter systems for the treatment of domestic wastewater, 2005
Incorporates new findings into the established guidance on siting, design and construction of mounds receiving domestic septic tank effluent. Where there is a range of possible design solutions, this guide explains the options that are available and suggests solutions.
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Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

Knowledge Series 01 Reclaimed water, 2005
Provides an overview of rainwater and grey water reclamation systems, covering legal requirements, system types, design considerations and system operation requirements. In the context of this publication, grey water is defined as water that was previously supplied by a water undertaker as 'wholesome water', but which has already been used in washbasins, baths or showers.
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CIRIA

Publication C648 Control of water pollution from linear construction projects: technical guidance, 2006
Linear construction projects, such as roads, railways, pipelines, cables and water courses, could all have negative impacts on the environment. This document looks at the issues of controlling and managing water pollution. Covers the characteristics of linear projects, water environment, water pollution and the law, planning and design, stakeholder consultation, development consent, site investigations and monitoring, programming and seasonal influences, contracts, construction, site planning, licenses and consents, emergency and contingency planning, site set-up, adjacent land and water use, runoff and sediment control, water treatment methods and disposal, works in or near water, excavations and dewatering, concrete and grouting activities, contaminated land and ecology.
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Publication C649 Control of water pollution from linear construction projects: site guide, 2006
Linear construction projects, such as roads, railways, pipelines, cables and water courses, could all have negative impacts on the environment. This document looks at the issues of controlling and managing water pollution. Covers site planning and programming, licences and consents, monitoring, emergency and contingency planning, site set-up, adjacent land and water use, runoff and sediment control, water treatment methods and disposal, works in or near water, excavations and dewatering, concrete and grouting activities, contaminated land and ecology.
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Project Report PR 80 Rainwater and greywater use in buildings: decision-making for water conservation, 2001
Provides a background into and discusses the benefits and barriers to rainwater and greywater use in buildings. Covers water conservation strategies and common issues for rainwater and greywater use.
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Council for the Protection of Rural England

Hidden depths of water privatisation: water privatisation and the planning system, 1989
This report emphasises the special role that water authorities currently play in managing their own land and in advising the planning system.
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Pooling our resources: a campaigners' guide to catchment management planning, 1996
Shows how catchment management planning can be used better to protect our environment. Explains how the process works, its aims and the links between planning of both water and land.
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Defence Estates

Joint Services Publication 418 Environment manual, 2005
This is the first point of reference to ensure activities are conducted in compliance with the law and international conventions and to provide a broad overview of MOD Policy and programmes on most Environment. Covers: Organisation, legislation and policy regarding environmental matters in the MOD, Understanding Environment, and integrated environmental management, Resource use, Prevention and control of pollution, Waste management and Environmental training. Readers are also directed to JSP 362, the Defence Lands Handbook, which covers issues of Estate Management and Conservation

English Nature

Impact of water abstraction on wetland SSSIs, 1996
This report details work done under contract to English Nature, concerning the vulnerability to nearby surface water and groundwater abstraction for public and private water supply, of some 152 Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
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Piatkus Books

The chaos point: the world at the crossroads, 2006
Ervin Laszlo provides a concise, yet encompassing overview of the present world situation, showing where we are, and how we got here. According to Laszlo we have six to seven years to head off unsustainable trends that would lead to a 'tipping point' beyond which there is no turning back. After this tipping point we either evolve to a safer, more sustainable world, or the social, economic and ecological systems that frame our life break down. This is the Chaos Point, but this need not be the end of the world, only the end of a phase of the world beyond which a new world could dawn.

Solar Survival Architecture Press

Water from the sky, 2005
Introduces new concepts in building design, with detailed diagrams, photographs and information, regarding using and reusing water in our homes. The roof designs featured involve reversing our current sloping roof styles, and having the roof work like a teacup, collecting the water which is usually lost to a conventional roof. This water is then channelled into storage areas and used around the building for features such as; solar applications, and plants in biocells for outdoor and indoor grey and black water treatment.

Waterproofing/damp proofing

British Cement Association

Basement waterproofing - site guide, 1994
Intended for those responsible for supervising the installation of specific waterproofing systems. Covers principles of design and installation and gives a list of straightforward Do's and Don'ts when applying main waterproofing systems information on geocomposite drainage systems.
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Basement waterproofing - design guide, 1994
Provides guidance on the form and characteristics of the main categories of waterproofing: bonded sheet membranes, cavity drain membranes, bentonite clay active membranes, liquid-applied membranes, mastic asphalt, cementitious proprietary multi-coat renders, toppings and coatings, and cementitious crystallisation active systems. Contains information on soil characteristics and detailed illustration relating to drainage, waterproofing and means of assessing risk.
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Building Research Establishment

Information Paper 26/81 Solar reflective paints, 1981
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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Building Regulations 2000: Approved Documents C Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture, 2004
Includes Part C1 - Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and Part C2 - Resistance to moisture.
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Weather/Climate

British Standards Institution

PAS 1188-3:2003 Flood protection products - Specification. Building skirt systems (AMD 15220), 2003
Requirements are given for the designation, testing, installation documents and marking for building skirt systems intended to temporarily seal above ground external faces of buildings and properties.

Building Research Establishment

FBE 9 Summertime solar performance windows with shading devices, 2005
Provides data that can be used to quantify the ability of windows and shading devices to control summertime overheating. Describes the different terms that are used to quantify solar control. Explains the different approaches that can be used and gives generic data for the most common system types. Gives more detailed data for a range of systems. Explains how the data can be used to compare different device types and as input to simple calculation methods.
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Report 349 Impact of climate change on building, 1998
The purpose of this report is to disseminate to the building industry the scope of potential impacts that future climate change may have on the built environment in the UK.
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Report 431 Cooling buildings in London: overcoming the heat island, 2001
Presents the results of a long-term monitoring experiment to measure air temperatures at 80 sites around London. Summertime temperatures were then used in a model for a typical office building. Also outlines techniques to reduce the effects of the heat island by careful design including: Alternative cooling strategies, encouraging wind flow and ventilation, using trees, green areas and water features and solar shading.
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Digest 499 Designing roofs for climate change. Modifications to good practice guidance, 2006
Presents recommendations on proposed modifications to guidance on good practice in roof design and construction for many types of roof in the light of predicted climate changes. Encompasses structural considerations, responding to rainfall and driving rain, thermal design, use of suitably durable materials, fire safety, and installation.
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Good building guide 63 Climate change: impact on building design and construction, 2004
Considers how the climate is changing, the potential risks this will bring to buildings and, as a consequence, how building design and construction will need to change.
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Building Services Research and Information Association

Special Report 25/97 Greywater and rainwater systems: recommended UK requirements, 1997
This report summarises proposed water quality standards and conditions of use for recycled greywater and stored rainwater systems in the UK.
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Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

Guide J Weather, solar and illuminance data, 2002
The guide enables users to evaluate building performance in terms of design risk (for example, the amount of time that the internal temperature exceeds a given value in summer). It provides a basis for analysing the interaction of weather with the building fabric and the control system. It also provides computer-based tools to derive statistics from basic weather data and improved weather data for heating and cooling load assessment.
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CIE-UK

Technical Report 110/1994 Spatial distribution of daylight - luminance distributions of various reference skies, 1994
A review of studies on various sky luminances and specifications of reference skies, with a method of composing average sky and mean sky as an appendix. Several reference skies including the average sky and mean sky are given definitions and various studies on these sky luminances are introduced, with a bibliography, in three appendices.
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CIRIA

Publication C638 Climate change risks in building - an introduction, 2005
Looks at the effects of climate change on buildings including why it is happening and the changes that may be noticed in the UK in the context of the construction industry. Covers the consequences and risk decision-making processes.
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Welfare facilities

Building Research Energy Conservation Support Unit

Good Practice Case Study 108 Low energy sheltered housing in Scotland, 1992
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Good Practice Guide 193 Good housekeeping in nursing and residential homes, 1996
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Good Practice Case Study 236 Low energy design of care homes: the cost-effective route to energy efficiency, 1997
Decisions taken during the design and construction of a nursing or residential care home will greatly influence the running costs for the lifetime of the building. There are many energy efficiency features that can be specified at the design stage and, although some of these can be incorporated after the building is completed, they will rarely be as cost effective as when specified from the outset. This Case Study describes two homes where energy efficiency was considered at the design stage. One of the homes is privately owned, and the proprietors took advice from the architects on what could be done to minimise energy costs. The other is owned by a national housing association that has a policy of designing energy efficiency into all its new homes.
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Good Practice Case Study 284 Energy efficiency in care homes: Batley Hall nursing and residential home, 1996
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Energy Consumption Guide 57 Energy consumption guide for nursing and residential homes, 1996
This guide is intended for owners and managers responsible for running nursing and residential homes and, where appropriate, other homes. The guide introduces the use of energy efficiency to reduce fuel costs in care homes and avoid waste.
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Wind Power

Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland

Information Sheet 2 Wind energy, 1999
This document considers the issues surrounding the provision of wind energy sites.
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British Wind Energy Association

Wind energy: the facts, 1995
This publication looks at wind energy in the UK, the environmental and economic costs, reasons for using wind energy, and possible futures.
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Wind energy and planning: an overview, 2004
Provides an overview of wind energy and planning issues, arguing that the planning system is contributing to unnecessary delays in onshore wind energy developments at a time when an efficient decision making process is critical in order to meet renewable energy targets.
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Economics of wind energy, 1997
This document is divided into three main sections; what are the different costs of making electricity from the wind; what influences the costs and; why is the cost coming down.
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Using wind power: a guide to remote power and domestic applications, 1994
This booklet describes the various systems available and how they can be used. It is primarily concerned with stand alone small wind turbines (up to the size to power and heat a house) which are often used where there is no grid or where grid connection is uneconomic because connection and standing charges are disproportionate to a small machine's cost and output.
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Wind farms of the UK, 1996
A guide to the wind turbines, wind farm locations and best places to view this emerging form of renewable energy generation.
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Wind energy: power for a sustainable future, 1996
Explains the benefits, the current status and the future potential for wind energy in the UK.
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Fact Sheet 4 Can we rely on the wind?, 1996
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Fact Sheet 8 Wind energy in agriculture, 1996
Covers the two basic methods for using wind turbines to generate electricity, grid-connected and stand-alone systems.
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Fact Sheet 10 Noise from wind turbines, 1996
This publication covers; noise from wind turbines; noise measurements; wind turbine developments and; different types of turbine.
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Fact Sheet 12 Offshore wind energy, 1997
This publication covers; the offshore resource; technical issues; operational experience and economics and; future work.
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Fact Sheet 19 Calculating environmental benefits, 1997
This publication covers; emissions reductions; other calculations and; energy balance.
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Council for the Protection of Rural England

Policy Position Statement Onshore wind turbines, 2006
CPRE's policy on onshore wind turbines.
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Gibbs M Smith Inc

Off the grid homes, 2007
Looks at six contemporary architectural projects that integrate alternative technologies for generating and conserving energy. Being off the grid can refer to many different aspects of energy and resource independence, from rainwater collection, to photovoltaic (PV) systems, to gray-water systems and more. Diagrams and clear explanations of technologies and their appropriate applications are provided alongside the case studies that explain just how the technologies work and how they may best be applied in each situation.
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Windows and doors

British Woodworking Federation

Installing timber windows, 1994
Guidance on glazing methods and practices preferred by the BWF. Covers: forming openings, fitting, support, fixing, sealing and decoration.
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Guide to specifying wood windows, 1990
This guide covers; window types, appearance, general performance, thermal and acoustic performance, durability, installation, site practice, and specification methods.
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Guide to specifying wood doors, 1991
There are a formidable number of different types of wood or wood based doors on the market, some have a specific end use but others can satisfy several different uses. The purpose of this guide is to identify the different types and provide guidance in their correct specification.
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Building Research Energy Conservation Support Unit

Good Practice Guide 96 Energy efficiency in new housing. Detailing for designers and building professionals. Windows and external doors, 1993
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Good Practice Guide 106 Energy efficiency in new housing. Site practice for tradesmen. Windows and doors: installing frames and insulated glazing units, 1993
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Good Practice Guide 107 Energy efficiency in new housing. Site practice for tradesmen. Windows and doors: installing factory finished components, 1993
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Good Practice Guide 108 Energy efficiency in new housing. Site practice for tradesmen. Windows and doors: insulating reveals, 1993
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Good Practice Guide 139 Draughtstripping of existing doors and windows, 1995
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Good Practice Guide 227 Selecting energy efficient windows, 1997
This guide will help to enable specifiers to understand the factors affecting energy performance of windows and help them to select the most appropriate specification.
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Good Practice Guide 295 Refurbishment site guidance for solid walled houses - windows and doors, 2000
Aimed at architects, builders, local authorities and housing associations. This guide provides advice on how to improve the insulation value of windows and external doors, in order to achieve a good level of energy efficiency.
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Building Research Establishment

FBE 9 Summertime solar performance windows with shading devices, 2005
Provides data that can be used to quantify the ability of windows and shading devices to control summertime overheating. Describes the different terms that are used to quantify solar control. Explains the different approaches that can be used and gives generic data for the most common system types. Gives more detailed data for a range of systems. Explains how the data can be used to compare different device types and as input to simple calculation methods.
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Information Paper 15/88 Average daylight factor: a simple basis for daylight design, 1988
Good design of windows should include planning for daylight at the early design stage. Average daylight factor is especially suitable for this purpose as it can be used in the direct calculation of target glazing areas. This paper describes the use of formulae developed at BRE to enable average daylight factor to be calculated quickly and accurately. It will be of interest to architects and engineers involved in window design.
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Information Paper 12/93 Heat losses through windows, 1993
Heat losses through windows are shown to be significantly affected by radiator siting (either under the window or on a side-wall), sill depth, curtains, double glazing and low-emissivity glazing. However, trickle ventilators have little effect on heat losses, and further research is required into the influence of window geometry.
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Report 262 Thermal insulation: avoiding risks. 3rd edition, 2002
Explains the technical risks which may be associated with meeting the building regulation requirements for thermal insulation for the major elements of the building. For Roofs and Floors, there are further sub-divisions within each element. Concentrates on loadbearing masonry, timber frame constructions and profiled sheet cladding. Illustrations show construction principles and good practice. This updated edition contains a number of revisions resulting from developments in research, changes in. materials, construction techniques and the building regulations.
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Report 379 Calculating access to skylight, sunlight and solar radiation on obstructed sites in Europe, 1999
This report contains manual tools to predict daylight, sunlight and heating season solar gain in obstructed situations. They can be used to assess the solar potential of new sites, and to evaluate the overshadowing of an existing building following a new development nearby.
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Report 443 Conventions for U-value calculations, 2006
Presents calculation methods suitable for demonstrating compliance with Building Regulations for the conservation for fuel and power, namely Part L (England and Wales), Section 6 for Scotland, and Part F (Northern Ireland). Provides guidance on the use of the calculation methods by: indicating the method or methods of calculation that are appropriate for different construction elements, supplying additional information about using the methods and data relevant to typical UK constructions.
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Good Building Guide 67 Part 3 Achieving airtightness: practical guidance on techniques - windows and doors, sealing methods and materials, 2006
Intended to give the best advice on achieving airtightness in new buildings. It is based on data obtained from laboratory testing and observations made while undertaking air leakage audits in buildings. Provide practical guidance on airtightness techniques appropriate to most building types.
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Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

Lighting Guides LG 10 Daylighting and window design, 1999
This guide signals the need for designers, whether architects or engineers, to consider the interrelated aspects of window performance such as solar heat gain, winter heat loss, provision of view, acoustic performance, privacy, security and protection from fire and to determine priorities for their relative importance.
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English Heritage

Dormer windows, 1991
This leaflet illustrates the range of traditional dormer types and provides some guidance in design where no better evidence exists. It points out some of the most common problems and suggests how these can be avoided.
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Door and window furniture, 1997
This publication is divided into five main sections; history of window furniture; history of door furniture; restoring or reusing old fittings; simplex ironmongery; and security.
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Framing options 5: Window comparisons, 1994
This leaflet compares wood, PVC-U, and aluminium windows.
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Framing options 3: Metal windows, 1997
This publication is divided into four main sections; the origins of metal windows; modern metal windows; galvanising and powder coating; and the repair of metal windows.
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Timber panelled doors and fire - upgrading the fire resistance performance of timber panelled doors and frames, 1997
This guidance note is designed to help those who own, manage, or are professionally concerned with modifying existing joinery doorsets in historic buildings, to achieve acceptable levels of fire and cold smoke resistance.
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Framing options 1: Draughtproofing and secondary glazing, 1994
This document is divided into five main sections; insulating the home; double glazing; draughtproofing; energy auditing; and secondary glazing.
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Timber sash windows, 1997
This publication is divided into four main sections; the origins of timber sash windows; timber quality; repair and rehabilitation; and the surveying and assessment of timber windows.
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