Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Design Methods for Architects [Hardcover]

Norbert Lechner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Second Edition of Heating, Cooling, Lighting is one of the most useful and important books on building design in years...Nowhere else have we seen such clear explanations of enery flow mechanisms that occur in buildings. Take our word for it, this book is a must have for any design firm." --Environmental Building News, May 2001

Product Description

* Qualitative graphic approach to understanding the techniques of heating, cooling, and lighting reflects the decision-making approach of architects and students.
* Useful appendices provide sun path diagrams and solar site evaluation tools. Appendices new to this edition include practical checklists of strategies and issues in evaluating energy use in the building design stage, and an annotated list of helpful sustainability videos to use in class, professional meetings, or with clients.
* A new chapter on photovoltaics discusses their use as an ideal energy source, offers design options, and case studies as well as their future role in building design.
* A new chapter on sustainable "green" design includes case studies and examples of water conservation measures, effects from energy production and consumption, and an analysis of indoor air quality.
* Mathematical formulas are excerpted from the text and appear in side boxes, so they don't cloud the text with overly-technical information.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (December 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471241431
• ISBN-13: 978-0471241430
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #405,182 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 Great Book, December 21, 2006

By	Daniel F. Piermarini "franko" (california) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Design Methods for Architects (Hardcover)

Very informative and easy to read. I picked this book up to study for my Architect's License Exam and found it to be a very well rounded book. There are lots of good ideas for saving energy and good practices for building orientation and construction. There are also plans on how to build a small sun machine for testing your models. My only disappointment were the numerous typos. A good editor could have taken care of that. Otherwise good author, good info. Highly recommended.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text book for environmental system course and design studio, June 8, 2006

By	Marc Giaccardo "Architect-professor" (San Antonio, Texas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Design Methods for Architects (Hardcover)

A very clear and concise presentation of the basic material (as stated in the title) for all architecture, construction science, and interior design undergraduate students. The three tier conceptual approach, presented at the beginning, really helps the students understand the structure of the presentation. The "key ideas" section at the end of each chapter helps the students study for my quizzes too. I have found that the appendices and bibliography are very helpful for graduate students - further study. At the beginning of the semester, an undergraqduate ID student ask me what the relevance of the story about Easter Island had for her. By the time we arrived at the chpaters on "Lighting", she told me she got it. The biggest problem with using this book in a undergraduate lecture course for design students is that the studio instructors can no longer say that the students "said they didn't get" both the sustainability issues and technical information needed to have a strong basic understanding to apply to design thinking. Now they will be forced to invent other reasons for why students are not required to fully integrate by 4th year studio and beyond - and still develop strong conceptual ideas. Among other reference text, I also found that Allen/Iano's "Studio Companion" as a supplement is helpful for further visualizing the HVAC systems and their direct application to building design thinking. The major technical weakness/omission is that it is missing one good chapter dedicated to water - hence the 4 star instead of 5 star rating in my opinion.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, Easy Read, September 12, 2007

By	Murat Basarir "mecheng07" (Kingston, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Design Methods for Architects (Hardcover)

As a mechnical engineer working on energy efficient buildings, this book enabled me to step back view buildings from an architectural point of view. It is easy to read and understand and delivers relevant basic knowledge. Although there are newer books with more update information this book is a good package delivering the basics.