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What is Green Design and how can we implement it? This is a pressing question that all designers must inescapably confront today. Is it simply about compliance to green accreditation systems (such as LEED or BREEAM)? Currently these rating systems apply only to buildings, and though it is true that a large part of climate change is attributable to buildings and their use, is it sufficient that our buildings and masterplans achieve the highest possible scores in these rating systems? Surely we need to go beyond these systems to look at the more complete picture of sustainable design. The question of how we do this forms the basis of this book. Leading architects have joined forces to discuss this important and timely subject.

Presented here are a series of essays, each by experts in their fields, on the current state of Green Design covering the spectrum from theory to practice. Contributing writers include Bill Dunster, Stefan Behnisch, Lam Khee Poh, Nadav Malin, Tom Hicks, Bob Berkbile, Thomas Herzog and Stefan Behnisch. The contributors each bring their own thoughts and questions on how to improve sustainable design, how important it is and how it can be enforced. Their writings express concerns regarding the built environment, its affect on physical well-being, how we live in cities and how this could change in the future. These discussions are given a contemporary relevance through inclusion of the work of contemporary architects, artists, writers and commentators.

Green Design provides a thought provoking look at the built environment and how it can improve or effect our lives, making this an interesting read for architects, town planners and anyone with an interest in the environment.