The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building: Redefining the Practice of Sustainability (Sustainable Design) [Hardcover]

7group (Author), Bill Reed (Author), S. Rick Fedrizzi (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470181109 | ISBN-13: 978-0470181102 | Publication Date: April 13, 2009 | Edition: 1

"The members of 7group and Bill Reed are examples writ large of the kind of leadership that is taking this idea of green building and forming it into reality, by helping change minds, building practice, and design process."
—from the Foreword by S. Rick Fedrizzi President, CEO, and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council

A whole-building approach to sustainability

The integrative design process offers a new path to making better green building decisions and addressing complex issues that threaten living systems. In The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building: Redefining the Practice of Sustainability, 7group's principals and integrative design pioneer Bill Reed introduce design and construction professionals to the concepts of whole building design and whole systems. With integrative thinking that reframes what sustainability means, they provide a how-to guide for architects, designers, engineers, developers, builders, and other professionals on incorporating integrative design into every phase of a project.

This practical manual:

• Explains the philosophy and underpinnings of effective integrative design, addressing systems thinking and building and community design from a whole-living system perspective

• Details how to implement integrative design from the discovery phase to occupancy, supported by process outlines, itemized tasks, practice examples, case studies, and real-world stories illustrating the nature of this work

• Explores the deeper understanding of integration that is required to transform architectural practice and our role on the planet

This book, both practical and thoughtful, will help you deliver your vision of a sustainable environment.

7group, based in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, includes principals John Boecker, Scot Horst, Tom Keiter, Andrew Lau, Marcus Sheffer, and Brian Toevs, who bring a unique integration of expertise in design, engineering, energy and daylight modeling, materials assessments, commissioning, education, and communications to their work. Internationally recognized thought leaders in the green building movement, they have led countless teams through the practical implementation of integrative design on building projects of all types around the world. 7group also has been directly and deeply involved with the development of the LEED® Green Building Rating System, including experience on more than 100 LEED projects. Scot Horst currently serves as chair of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Steering Committee.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book is an in-depth study of sustainable design practices, but particularly as it relates to new building construction. The book's primary audience is commercial construction consultants. However, their concepts apply to residential design, too." (The Designer, Winter 2009/2010)

About the Author

7group, based in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, includes principals John Boecker, Scot Horst, Tom Keiter, Andrew Lau, Marcus Sheffer, and Brian Toevs, who bring a unique integration of expertise in design, engineering, energy and daylight modeling, materials assessments, commissioning, education, and communications to their work. Internationally recognized thought leaders in the green building movement, they have led countless teams through the practical implementation of integrative design on building projects of all types around the world. 7group also has been directly and deeply involved with the development of the LEED Green Building Rating System, including experience on more than 100 LEED projects. Scot Horst currently serves as chair of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Steering Committee.

Bill Reed is an architect and internationally recognized proponent and practitioner of integrative design. He is a principal in three firms: the Integrative Design Collaborative, Regenesis, Inc., and Delving Deeper—organizations working to lift development into full integration with living systems. He served as co-chair of the LEED Technical Committee from its inception in 1994 through 2003, is a member of the LEED Advanced faculty, and one of the first of twelve USGBC trainers of the LEED Rating System.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470181109
• ISBN-13: 978-0470181102
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 1.4 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Architecture with Purpose, May 12, 2009

By 

Michael G. Hummel (Cedar City, Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building: Redefining the Practice of Sustainability (Sustainable Design) (Hardcover)

What an inspired, clear, and exciting guide to improving our design/construction processes. I am a third through the book but can't see myself beginning a new project without implementing what I have learned so far. Therefore, we have planned our first Goal Setting Workshop for a new project near the end of this month, and I am tasked with serving as a process facilitator and presenter of the Integrative Design Process/Systems Thinking Concept. I see great power in the many stories and pictures in your book.
Thank you for sharing your talents and passion, Michael

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real thing - much needed - practical, September 7, 2009

By 

Charles W. Brown - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building: Redefining the Practice of Sustainability (Sustainable Design) (Hardcover)

Change is hard and let's face it, while LEED was / is an excellent tool or primer on green design it will never get us to truly impacting climate change. Designers must let go of the old implementation model with LEED tacked on. We must encourage creative and whole system thinking within our entire stakeholder team. This book is great for managers, in that in lays out a profitable implementation process. Its also great for soul. Should you take it to heart you will enjoy a better working and community environment. Just maybe we can regain our spiritual connection to earth as well.

Should be required university reading for all architecture and engineering practice management classes.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review as published in Environmental Building News, September 1, 2009

By 

Nadav Malin "President, BuildingGreen.com" (Brattleboro, VT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building: Redefining the Practice of Sustainability (Sustainable Design) (Hardcover)

Seeking to "redesign the design process," as they put it, the authors of this remarkable book share their unquenchable spirit of inquiry. At the core of the book is an expanded and updated presentation of their method of integrative design--"integrative" because the integration is ongoing, never completed as would be implied by the more common term "integrated design."

In that sense, this book is like a reference guide to the "Whole Systems Integrated Process Guide (WSIP) 2007 for Sustainable Buildings & Communities," an ANSI/MTS standard (see EBN September 2007). But wrapped around that step-by-step, nuts-and-bolts guidance are the big ideas that inform this integrative process. Understanding that buildings, their components, and their context are nested whole systems, the way to solve interconnected problems without creating new ones is to "solve for pattern." This is done by discovering the story of each place, and designing not merely to restore ecological functions but to facilitate the ongoing evolution of a place to higher and better functioning.

Ultimately, the focus of resources, energy, and attention that comes about when designing and building or renovating a facility becomes an opportunity to transform both the place and the participants, helping both initiate a continuing evolution. If this all sounds like pie-in-the-sky idealism, read a few of the many real-world stories to see the potential.