Customer Reviews

Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Methods for Architects

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"Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Methods for Architects" is a book that I know since the second edition. I've used this book extensively as resource in my lectures for architectural students. It can be very helpful for architects both in practice and in academic research. The book is well illustrated, the writing is straightforward and, at the same time, comprehensive and thoughtful. It embraces roughly everything you want and must know for doing bioclimatic and sustainable design. The case studies and appendices are also helpful and the latter includes some useful tools for architects, such as the angle-finder (for estimating the height of trees) and the heliodon (an apparatus for sun/shadow analysis). If for any reason you have to choose only one book about sustainable and bioclimatic architectural design to buy, no doubt that this is the one you are looking for.

Being an architecture student, I understand the future of architecture is held in sustainable design. I found this textbook to be an extremely reliable source for my Environmental Systems class. When designing, we now put a greater emphasis on sustainable techniques and how future generations are effected by how we design today. Lechner describes a wide variety of methods that can be used in modern architectural design. The textbook covers everything from basic sunlight integration to complex ventilation strategies. He develops these ideas based off precedent studies and historical influence. He goes into great detail when describing how and why past and future methods can be effective. A nice thing that Lechner does is he describes the pros and cons to many sustainable techniques. It's really nice to see what has worked, and what hasn't. He also summarizes each chapter, allowing the reader to pick up on the most essential ideas. Visual diagrams and images also assist the reader in understanding key components. All of the information presented is well thought out and executed to get the important concepts exposed. It's filled with relatively simple yet effective information anyone can understand. I would absolutely recommend this textbook to anyone, especially if they are looking to grasp a firm understanding of sustainable design strategies.

I purchased this book for a course I'm taking on Environmental Design. The course is required for my Master's of Architecture (first professional) program. The book is very comprehensive and provides a great amount of information that can IMMEDIATELY start influencing your designs and make them more sustainable. Great book!

A great book for anyone interested in sustainable design. It explains every issue in great detail, and with ease. I totally recommend it. And it is also helpful if planing to take the licensing exams!

I just wanna say that this book is as good as i wanted ... i recommend the book, and of course the amazon service ..

After reviewing all the green building books out there, I chose this book to assign my students. It is comprehensive and clear, unlike the others. Plus, the author is responsive to inquiries.

I bought it brand new and it came in plastic wrap with no scratches at all. Oh, and it's a fun read!

I had to use this book in an Environmental Systems course. While it does a good job of listing a lot of good design methods, its EXTREMELY opinionated. Text books are supposed to tell you facts and ideas, not give you opinions. A lot of it is politically motivated, I suspect. Once and a while the author slips into the 1st person (or refers to themselves in the 3rd person) to take a jab at something. Its chapter on electric lighting literally tells you that all the standards should never be used, which is unrealistic for a student, since thats what they use in the working world.

A majority of the time, the text book is trying to convince you that global warming is a huge problem and all of that... which, regardless of your political opinion (even though I generally agree with the guy), doesn't have a place in a design text book. Phrases like "the author thinks that..." are used way too much.

That aside, it also repeats itself a LOT. I was in one of those classes where reading the entire book cover to cover was a necessity, and having done so, I think the book could have been concentrated into about half the size. A lot of the stuff it tells you is also not really possible to do in the real world economically. Things that do apply to the real world are common sense and generally common knowledge (sun makes hot) and have been used for decades, even centuries.

On learning the actual things you need to learn in an environmental systems class... it doesn't really do a good job. It does a good job of ignoring pretty important things that a student will be required to know on his/her exam, or even just on the job, and goes on about things that really only exist in the author's made-up utopian world. As a textbook for a sustainability class, I think it would be acceptable given the content. (and content ONLY). There's definitely a slant to it though, and I would definitely not recommend it.

So far, just a lot of words to explain a few simple points. Each chapter can be explained in a couple of pages.