Materials for a Healthy, Ecological and Sustainable Built Environment

Principles for Evaluating Building Materials in Sustainable Construction: Healthy and Sustainable Materials for the Built Environment provides a comprehensive overview of the issues associated with the selection of materials for sustainable construction, proposing a holistic and integrated approach. The book evaluates the issues involved in choosing materials from an ecosystem services perspective, from the design stage to the impact of materials on the health of building users. The three main sections of the book discuss building materials in relation to ecosystem services, the implications of materials choice at the design stage, and the impact of materials on building users and their health. The final section focuses on specific case studies that illustrate the richness of solutions that existed before the rise of contemporary construction and that are consistent with a sustainable approach to creating built environments. These are followed by modern examples which apply some, if not all, of the principles discussed in the first three sections of the book. - Provides a holistic and integrated approach to the issues associated with the selection of materials for sustainable construction - Provides a thorough understanding of ecosystem services based on ecology research for built environment design - Provides an original review of the impact of materials on human health - Provides case studies to illustrate the points above

Dr Emina Kristina Petrovic is recognised for her expertise on toxicity, sustainability, and healthiness of building materials. Petrovic emphasises the importance of informed building material selection for both the built and natural environment, calling for a more detailed consideration of building materials for the totality of their impacts, from ecosystem health to ethics of production. By asserting the relevance of the interrelatedness of these issues, Petrovic is providing a critical leadership in a transition to less impactful construction. Because knowledge itself is not enough for the needed change, Petrovic has also contributed a new sustainable transition framework, and examines aspects of behaviour change in building industry.