Designing the Sustainable School (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This compilation of more than 40 international case studies commemorates sustainable design that considers not only eco-friendly features, but also the quality of a child's academic experience. Ford has collected an intriguing array of green school designs that range from a three-room schoolhouse in Gando, Bouglou, Burkina Faso, to a 2,500-student high school in California. Each selected design embodies Ford's vision for the future of sustainable academic design: "Imagine a school where the indoor air quality reduced the risk of exposure to disease, where the acoustics were such that learning was enhanced, where the quality of the finishes and architecture made you feel welcomed, where test scores improved," he writes.

The selected case studies demonstrate how acoustics, visual comfort, light, and color perception have been incorporated into environmentally mindful designs for schools. Images, floor renderings, and elevations give the reader a spatial sense of each project.

In the foreword, Richard S. Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council states, "Every morning we send our children to school to learn, to explore, and to imagine -- but we send them to buildings that are more like prisons than schools." This book is a celebration of the imaginative architects and educators across the globe who are breaking through the limitations of traditional school design to incorporate green innovation that harmonizes with principles of creative design for places of learning. --Rebecca Ward, Architectural Record: Schools of the 21st Century (The McGraw-Hill Companies), January 2008

Product Description

The Book presents a survey of Kindergarten through 12th-grade schools from around the world featuring projects that combine the best in aesthetics, sustainability and high-performance design. The book utilizes 45 case studies to illustrate the range of sustainable and high performance design solutions currently being applied to K-12 school design; Featuring the work of Perkins and Will, Foster and Partners, Arup Associates, Antoine Predock Architect, BOORA Architects, Centerbrook Architects, Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects, Hillier Architecture, KieranTimberlake Associates, Lake Flato Architects, Mahlum Architects, HMC Architects and Pfau Architects among others.

Bullet points highlight the Sustainable features of each project along with over 450 photographs, diagrams and plans.

Foreword By: S Richard Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chairman- U.S. Green Building Council

with an essay By: John P. Eberhard, FAIA - On Neuroscience and the Sustainable School

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Images Publishing Group Pty. Ltd. (July 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1864702370
• ISBN-13: 978-1864702378
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #172,558 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Resource for All Building Types, October 27, 2007

By	J.D. Rittenhouse (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

Good for architects and for clients.

1)Architects:
This book is an excellent resource for sustainable architecture in general in addition to sustainable school design. It looks at 40+ buildings from around the world and in various architectural styles, discussing natural lighting, innovative HVAC systems, rainwater capturing and re-use, siting, natural ventilation, solar heating and cooling and many other systems. The buildings range from a community built clay brick building in rural Africa to modern high design.
A great resource when designing your own project (house, school, whatever building type) in terms of brainstorming how to incorporate sustainable design systems. Also excellent for taking the next research step of comparing a variety of approaches to each individual system, and the book ends with a list of websites for further info. A valuable and inspiring find!

2) Clients:
A very helpful review of a wide variety of sustainable systems, it covers buildings of all budgets and styles. There is a list of the architects of each of the buildings, but the book can also be used for getting some useful background to help in working with an architect of your choosing.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for the architect, facilities planner, school superintendent, November 26, 2008

By	Spike (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This book highlights 45 real high-performance K-12 school designs from across the U.S. and internationally, complete with brilliant photographic images, floor plans and elevations. It is not a technical manual on green school design but rather a highly visual presentation of sustainable practices that have successfully been implemented in schools with the learning environment in mind. Too often we find ourselves incorporating high-performance building features into schools with the bottom line guiding our clients' decision-making process: How can we reduce energy costs to save money in the long-term? What is overlooked is the way green school design can actually enhance the learning environment to create an enriched, positive academic experience for the child in addition to being eco-friendly and the energy-saving benefits thereof.

The author writes, "Imagine a school where indoor air quality reduced the risk of exposure to disease, where the acoustics were such that learning was enhanced, where the quality of the finishes and architecture made you feel welcomed... where test scores improved..."

Through the use of bullet points, the author creates a snapshot of each case study that demonstrates the extent of the sustainable features and concepts employed by the architects represented in this book. While perhaps lacking in how-to detail, "Designing the Sustainable School" inspires through images and examines the breadth of what architecture firms are doing to embrace not just high-performance building design but high-performance learning: creating schools that are both sustainable AND habitable.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, January 3, 2008

By	T. Davis "archrocks" (Honolulu, Hawaii) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book was a little pricey for my budget - but turned out to be well worth the expense! The range of school designs and locales provide great examples and were extremely helpful to me as I am working on a dissertation about school design. Finding up to date school design information - especially high performance school design, is quite difficult. This book made that so much easier. I also recommend the Prakash Nair Design Patterns for schools book.