Related Resources + References Overview

Overview

Architectural science, like all disciplines, is only as sustainable as its knowledge base. As the depth and breadth of this base continues to expand (it has been estimated that the half life of technical information is less than 5 years), the path to the leading edge of knowledge lengthens. This trend points towards longer learning and shorter earning times for professionals, and underlines the importance of making the collective knowledge base accessible, increasingly on a just-in-time basis.

This listing has been assembled to provide a broad introduction to Web-based resources regarding many, but not all, aspects of sustainable architecture. It is intended to provide a means of going beyond the perspectives which have been outlined in the preceding sections. At the time of posting, all of the links were accessible, but in the digital world sustainability remains an elusive concept. Users and visitors of these resources are welcome, indeed encouraged, to contact the author with suggestions and/or contributions for sites not listed here that may be of interest to others.

Sustainable Development & Architecture

World Wide Web Virtual Library of Sustainable Development is maintained by the Center for Economic and Social Studies on the Environment, located at Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Sustainable Architecture, Building and Culture is a comprehensive links site that allows you to tap into a wealth of Web resources on environmentally-inspired building techniques, technologies, architecture and engineering.

University of California at Berkeley Environmental Design Library maintains an online resource with links to Green Design and Sustainable Architecture.

Sustainable Architecture is a bibliography of selected resources on sustainability in architecture and related disciplines within the libraries of the University of Maryland, primarily the Architecture Library, and online.

Sapient Technology has developed a useful Sustainability site offering a broad range of helpful information and links. This site also features Smart Places software - a resource modeling system which allows non-technical users to interactively sketch land use scenarios and then evaluate those against regional objectives and constraints.

Environmental Sites

Environment Canada provides a valuable Internet resource for weather and environmental information. The Green Lane helps connect Canadians, exchange information and share knowledge for environmental decision-making.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency site supports its mission to protect human health and safeguard the environment.

European Environment Agency Tools & Services is a gateway to a vast European environmental information resource.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation hosts a site which contains various information on environmental issues related to numerous aspects of housing. The site search points to a number of useful publications and information about past and current research projects.

Embodied Energy

Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) sponsors a Web site dedicated to Design for Environment (DfE) DfE is the systematic integration of environmental considerations into product and process design. The section on Embodied Energy contains numerous links dealing with materials and embodied energy issues.

Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, CSIRO, provides information on embodied energy in building materials and processes. It also offers information on its research, technologies, products and services.

New Zealand's Victoria University School of Architecture, Centre for Building Performance offers more detailed information in a link to embodied energy. A useful list of embodied energy coefficients is available in portable document format (.pdf) within this area.

Embodied Energy and Life Cycle Analysis are combined in this unique Australian site.

Operating Energy & Energy Efficiency

As Canada's one-stop service for energy efficiency, Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) has everything you need to save energy, save money and help protect the environment.

The United States Department of Energy maintains a comprehensive Website containing energy efficiency and renewable energy information, and offering access to a wealth of links and documents.

The Building Energy Software Tools Directory describes 220 energy-related software tools for buildings, with an emphasis on using renewable energy and achieving energy efficiency and sustainability in buildings.

The Renewable Energy Policy Project/Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (REPP-CREST) is a pioneering force publishing information about renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainability available on the Internet. Check out the link to the Global Energy Marketplace for emerging technologies.

Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory contains an interesting site featuring the Energy and Environmental Technologies Division.Visit the Energy Analysis and Building Technology links.

The International Energy Agency's Energy Conservation in Buildings & Community Systems Programme (ECBCS) has a Web site featuring its Research Activities that provides a more global perspective on energy efficiency

Exergy (Absolute Energy Efficiency)

James Kay from the University of Waterloo maintains an interesting site dealing with various perspectives and links on Exergy.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) takes a look at Low Exergy Heating and Cooling Concepts for Buildings. Check out the Links for further information.

Durability

CIB W80 / RILEM - SLM "Service Life Methodologies" is a good starting point to see the state of durability issues and research activities.

CSA S478-95 (R2001) Guideline on Durability in Buildings describes the approach to building durability adopted in Canada.

Scotland's University of Strathclyde is the vehicle for a fascinating study on durability, adaptability and energy conservation. A thorough exploration of this site will yield valuable links and an extensive bibliography on durability issues.

Externalities

Introduction to Environmental Externality Costs This report by Jonathan Koomey and Florentin Krause, of the Science Division Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, serves as an introduction for the interested but uninformed reader to some of the key issues in assessing environmental externality costs, and gives references for those readers wishing to investigate further.

Electricity Generation and Environmental Externalities: Case Studies allows the downloading of a major study containing valuable data and references.

Fuel Cell Buses and Externalities takes a look at just how green fuel cell technologies may become.

Environmental Externalities and Eco-Taxes (PDF) is an interesting issue paper arising from the government of New Zealand's 2001 Tax Review.

A Study on the Economic Valuation of Environmental Externalities from Landfill Disposal and Incineration of Waste (PDF) provides a contemporary view on externalities and sustainability.

Ecological Footprint

Redefining Progress is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization that seeks to develop policies and tools to reorient the economy so it will value people and nature first.

Ecological Footprints of Nations: How Much Nature Do They Use? - How Much Nature Do They Have? This site contains a report that compares the ecological impact of 52 large nations, inhabited by 80 percent of the world population.

Ecological Footprint Calculator This is a very basic questionnaire to calculate a quick and relatively accurate ecological footprint for an individual living in North America.

Sustainable City computer software performs ecological footprint calculations within a GIS based application.

Best Foot Forward contains a number of interesting articles and links under its section on ecological footprints.

Toronto's Ecological Footprint is described at this Web site, which also provides a number of local and international links to interesting sites.

Eco-Labeling

The Global Ecolabeling Network is the central resource for eco-labeling information.

Sustainable Development International Corporation presents a good overview of eco-labeling and certification programs around the world.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

The ISO 14000 Information Center is a good place to begin gaining an understanding of life cycle concepts.

Life Cycle Assessment Explained provides a good introduction to life cycle assessment concepts by a consortium that wants to sell you its services and software. The Links are very useful in finding more objective sources of information about LCA.

Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment from Carnegie Mellon allows you to estimate the overall environmental impacts from producing a certain dollar amount of any of 500 commodities or services in the United States.

The Institute for Lifecycle Energy Analysis (ILEA) is an environmental advocacy organization that provides consumers with the education and tools necessary to make purchasing and lifestyle choices that work toward a sustainable global economy.

Analytical software for Life Cycle Costing (LCC) is available free of charge from this U.S. Department of Energy Web site, along with a host of other useful applications.

Trends in the Use and Abuse of LCA by Cutter Information Corporation presents a diverse overview of what dozens of leading practitioners, users, and developers of lifecycle assessment (LCA) see as the most important trends in how LCA is being, and going to be, used.

The Environmental Software House presents providers of high quality Life Cycle Assessment software applications that are currently available on the world market.

ECOCYCLE is a newsletter published by Environment Canada that shares information on policy and technical issues related to product environmental life-cycle management (LCM).

Programs & Evaluation Tools

BREEAM is the most widely used international method for assessing building quality and performance in terms of energy, environmental impact and health indicators.

BREEAM Canada and BREEAM/Green Leaf In 1996, ECD Energy and Environment Canada introduced BREEAM to Canada where it was published as the CSA Plus 1132 standard.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The LEED Green Building Rating System™ is a priority program of the US Green Building Council.

Green Building Challenge is an international collaborative effort to develop a building environmental assessment tool

Natural Resources Canada's Commercial Building Incentive Program (CBIP) offers a financial incentive for the incorporation of energy efficiency features in new commercial/institutional building designs.

National Australian Building Environmental Rating System Project (NABERS) The NABERS Project is committed to ensuring that Australia's building and construction industry moves rapidly towards environmental sustainability.

Building Energy Software Tool Directory

GBTool (Canada) This spreadsheet tool is available as a free download and supports the Green Building Challenge.

Athena Sustainable Materials Institute (Canada) ATHENA is a practical, easy-to-use decision support tool that provides high quality environmental data and assists with the complex evaluations required to make informed environmental choices.

BEES (USA) BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability) is based on consensus standards and designed to be practical, flexible, and transparent.

ENVEST (Great Britain) ENVEST makes it possible for users to assess the life-cycle environmental impact of a proposed building and to explore various design options. Configured for rapid and easy use, ENVEST also assesses the operational energy use and is particularly helpful at the early design stage.

LISA (Australia) Streamlined life cycle analysis (LCA) decision support tool for construction.

EQUER (France) Performs yearly simulations of buildings life cycle, in order to provide mechanical, energy and architectural engineers or architects with environmental indicators.

BLCC 5.0 (USA) is a life cycle costing program available through the Office of Applied Economics at the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Sustainable Architecture Opportunities

The author wishes to apologize to the many individuals, institutions and organizations that have not been listed, and welcomes their notification for inclusion.

Renewable Energy and Sustainable Energy Systems in Canada
is a Web site where you can find information to help you produce and/or use energy in the most effective and environmentally-friendly ways possible.

The Kinetic Design Group at MIT has as its goal the creation of architectural solutions that can demonstrate responsive and intelligently active behaviors with respect to changing individual, social and environmental needs.

Sustainable Architecture and Simulation Modelling from the Dublin Institute of Technology presents an academic perspective on sustainable architecture opportunities.

Household Wastewater Management is part of the Open Directory Project - the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web.

The Center for Ecological Pollution Prevention (CEPP) provides links to appropriate technologies with a focus on tropical climates.

The Ecological Engineering Group promotes advanced/alternative wastewater and resource conservation solutions that prevent pollution - beautifully.

Sewage Treatment, Composting Toilets, Effluent Re-Use links are available at this non-profit Web site.

Advanced Building Technologies features 90 technologies and practices that improve the energy and resource efficiency of commercial and multi-unit residential buildings.

The David Suzuki Foundation is the quintessential Canadian environmental advocate featuring valuable information, publications and links - think globally, act Canadian.

The Rocky Mountain Institute is the American counterpart of the Suzuki Foundation, but just a little more hands-on and down to earth.

European Charter for Solar Energy in Architecture and Urban Planning is a useful terms of reference for architects and urban planners.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Technology Roadmaps offer a glimpse at the future of energy efficient buildings and technologies.

Oikos Green Building Source contains a varied listing of environmentally appropriate building products and technologies.

Global Directory for Environmental Technology a.k.a. the Green Pages is a comprehensive guide to a full spectrum of environmental products & services.

Solar Bioclimatic Architecture information is available in a CD-ROM format from this Belgium site.

IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme Website provides a perspective on international research directions and activities. Check out the Energy Links for related information.

James & James Science Publishers is a leading provider of information for energy and environment professionals worldwide. A good source of information on European sustainable architecture.