Sustainable Buildings in Practice: What the Users Think

Current assessment methods of sustainable buildings do not adequately account for the users’ needs. Given that over the life of a building, total salary costs far outweigh both operating costs and combined capital and rental costs, the occupants’ needs are not something which should be sensibly ignored.
This book presents an unbiased evaluation of thirty of the most cutting-edge, sustainable buildings in the world, in terms of the users’ perceived comfort, health and productivity. The author has visited the buildings, interviewed the design teams and examined the findings of a sixty-question standardized user questionnaire. The book provides:

thirty case studies covering mixed-mode, passive and environmentally sustainable commercial and institutional buildings
detailed insights into the principles underlying the design of sustainable buildings worldwide, over several climatic zones and eleven countries, together with clear explanations and illustrations of innovative design practice
a discussion of common issues and the lessons that may be learnt from a study of the performance of sustainable buildings in practice, from the point of view of the people who use them.
This important book will be of great benefit to architects and engineers, facility managers of commercial and institutional buildings, as well as developers and researchers, academics and students in these fields.

George Baird is a Professor of Building Science at the School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington. A Fellow of the UK's Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers and New Zealand's Institution of Professional Engineers, he is an experienced researcher and writer and has been involved in the teaching of architects and building scientists for 40 years.

Introduction 1. Overview of the Buildings and their Performance Part 1: Buildings in Cold – Temperate Climates 2. NRG Systems Facility, Hinesburg, Vermont, USA 3. Computer Science and Engineering Building, York University, Ontario, Canada 4. Military Families Resource Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 5. SciencePark, Gelsenkirchen, Germany 6. National Works Yard, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7. Liu Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Part 2: Buildings in Medium – Temperate Climates 8. Gifford Studios, Southampton, England 9. Arup Campus, Solihull, England 10. Zicer Building, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England 11. Renewable Energy Systems, Kings Langley, England 12. City Hall, London, England 13. The Foundation Building, Eden Project, St Austell, Cornwall, England 14. The Mathematics and Statistics and Computer Science Building, Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand 15. St Mary’s Credit Union, Navan, Ireland 16. Scottsdale Forest Ecocentre, Tasmania, Australia 17. Tokyo Gas, Kohoku New Town, Yokohama 18. Nikken Sekkei Building, Tokyo Part 3: Buildings in Warm – Temperate Climates 19. The Landcare Research Laboratory, Auckland, New Zealand 20. The Campus Reception and Administration Building, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand 21. 60 Leicester Street, Melbourne, Australia 22. 40 Albert Road, South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 23. The Red Centre Building, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia 24. Institute of Languages, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia 25. General Purpose Building, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia 26. Student Services Centre, University of Newcastle, Australia 27. Natural Resources Defence Council, Santa Monica, California, USA Part 4: Buildings in Hot – Humid Climates 28. Institute of Technical Education, Bishan, Singapore 29. Ministry of Energy Water and Communications Building, Putrajaya, Malaysia 30. Menara Umno, Penang, Malaysia 31.Torrent Research Centre, Ahmedabad, India