Design and Construction of High-Performance Homes : Building Envelopes, Renewable Energies and Integrated Practice

Both professionals and students are increasingly committed to achieving high-performance metrics in the design, construction and operation of residential buildings. This book responds to this demand by offering a comprehensive guide which features: architectural innovations in building skin technologies which make lighter more transparent buildings high performingenergy-free architectural design principles and advances in building-integrated photovoltaicsessential engineering principles, controls and approaches to simulation for achieving net zerothe advantages of integrated design in residential construction and the challenges and opportunities it engendersdetailed case studies of innovative homes which have incorporated low-energy design solutions, new materials, alternative building assemblies, digital fabrication, integrated engineering systems and operational controls. Divided into four parts, the book discusses the requisite AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) knowledge needed when building a high-performance home. It also communicates this information across four case studies, which provide the reader with a thorough overview of all aspects to be considered in the design and construction of sustainable homes. With contributions from experts in the field, the book provides a well-rounded and multi-faceted approach.This book is essential reading for students and professionals in design, architecture, engineering (civil, mechanical and electrical), construction and energy management.

A complete introductory text on an increasingly popular subject, "Geology and Environment in Britain and Ireland" aims to provide suitably broad coverage for students requiring a treatment clearly foucused on familiar examples but retaining a global perspective.  The book summarizes for Earth and environmental scientists the ways in which geology relates to the natural environmentand to the humand activites that it supports.  The natural environment is more than the oceans, the atmosphere and the diversity of the land surface.  It extends below the ground and stretches back in time through the Earth''s history.  These environmental dimensions are the concern of geology.  First, the book summarizes the geological influences on society through control of landscape and human geography, and through the threats posed by hazards such as landslides, subsidence and earhquakes.  Next, the many Earth resources that support human activity are described: land, water, construction materials minerals, coal, oil, and gas.  How are they formed or replenished?  Which resources are are sustainable for use over more than the immediate geological future?  Thirdly, the impacts of human activity an the Earth are examined - the results of extracting geological resources, of intentionally engineering the environment, and of carelessly polluting land and underground water supplies.  Perhaps most serious of all is atmospheric pollution caused by burning geological fuels, threatening global change on scales only familiar from the geological record.  This book is published at a pivotal point in the history of geology.  Scientists who, for a century and a half, have been preoccupied with finding Earth resources are increasingly being asked where on Earth to dispose of the effluents from using them.  "Geology and Environment in Britain and Ireland" provides a comapct, abundantly illustrated summary of both sides of this dile