he green guide to specification : an environmental profiling system for building materials and components

How can you tell if the materials and components you are specifying have a low environmental impact? A full life-cycle assessment is a complex, time-consuming and expensive process; the environmental ratings summarised in this Guide provide a quick and easy way for designers and specifiers to assess their options.

The relative environmental performance of over 250 materials and components have been assessed in this guide, using carefully researched, quantitative data derived from the BRE Environmental Database. A wide range of alternative specifications are provided for:

· walls
· floor systems
· floor finishes
· roofs
· windows
· doors
· ceilings
· paints
· insulation
· landscaping.

The performance of each specification is measured against a range of environmental impacts including:

· climate change
· toxicity
· fossil fuel and ozone depletion
· levels of emissions and pollutants
· mineral and water extraction.

Environmental performance is indicated by a simple to use A-B-C rating system. To further aid specifiers, guidance on capital coasts, typical replacement intervals and information on recycling is also provided for each material and component.

An important part of BREEAM, the BRE's widely accepted scheme to improve the environmental performance of buildings, The Green Guide to Specification is an essential tool for architects, surveyors, building managers and property owners seeking to reduce the environmental impacts of building materials through informed choice.

Foreword	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. viii
The Authors	p. ix
Part 1 Introduction	p. 1
A global issue	p. 2
The purpose of this book	p. 2
How this edition of The Green Guide to Specification relates to other BRE publications and tools	p. 4
Previous editions of The Green Guide to Specification	p. 4
BRE Environmental Profiles of construction materials, components and buildings	p. 5
The Green Guide to Housing Specification	p. 5
BREEAM	p. 5
Envest	p. 5
Ecopoints and weightings	p. 6
Green procurement	p. 6
Life Cycle Assessment	p. 7
Sources of LCA data in The Green Guide to Specification	p. 8
Environmental issues	p. 9
Climate change	p. 9
Fossil fuel depletion	p. 9
Ozone depletion	p. 9
Human toxicity to air and human toxicity to water	p. 9
Ecotoxicity	p. 9
Waste disposal	p. 9
Water extraction	p. 9
Acid deposition	p. 9
Eutrophication	p. 10
Summer smog	p. 10
Minerals extraction	p. 10
Embodied energy	p. 10
Further information	p. 11
How The Green Guide to Specification was compiled	p. 11
How the elements were chosen	p. 11
How the specifications were chosen	p. 11
How Green Guide environmental issue ratings were assessed	p. 11
How Green Guide Summary Ratings are generated	p. 12
Weightings	p. 12
Worked example	p. 13
Other issues	p. 13
Part II How to use The Green Guide to Specification	p. 15
Layout of the element sections	p. 16
Functional unit	p. 16
Building pie charts	p. 16
Summary Rating range	p. 17
Significant environmental issues for elements	p. 17
Ratings tables	p. 17
Using the ratings	p. 18
The importance of different elements	p. 19
Arrangement of the building elements	p. 20
Part III Green Guide ratings	p. 21
High-mass elements	p. 22
Upper floors	p. 23
Ground floors and substructure	p. 25
Insulation	p. 25
External walls	p. 27
Superstructure	p. 28
General comments on external walls	p. 28
Insulation	p. 28
Division of external wall specifications into subsections	p. 29
Traditional forms of cavity wall construction	p. 30
'Rainscreen' claddings	p. 32
Cladding and masonry construction	p. 33
Cladding and framed construction	p. 36
Roofs	p. 39
Insulation	p. 40
Division of roofing specifications into subsections	p. 40
Flat roofs	p. 41
'Traditional' pitched roofs	p. 43
Low pitched roofs	p. 45
Medium- and low-mass elements	p. 46
Floor finishes and coverings	p. 47
Hard floor finishes	p. 49
Soft floor coverings	p. 50
Substructural floor systems/floor surfacing	p. 51
Windows and curtain walling	p. 53
Internal walls and partitioning	p. 55
Loadbearing partitions	p. 56
Non-loadbearing partitions	p. 57
Proprietary and demountable partitions	p. 58
Suspended ceilings and ceiling finishes	p. 59
Doors	p. 63
Other materials and elements	p. 66
Internal paint finishes	p. 67
Insulation	p. 69
All insulations (including those using HCFCs)	p. 70
Zero ozone depletion potential (ZODP) insulations	p. 72
Landscaping: hard surfacing	p. 75
Landscaping: boundary protection	p. 77
Part IV Appendices	p. 79
Appendix 1 General notes relating to the use of specific materials and particular environmental issues	p. 80
Timber	p. 80
Indoor air quality issues	p. 80
Insulation: CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs	p. 81
PVC	p. 81
Appendix 2 Worked example of the generation of a Green Guide rating for an internal wall specification	p. 83
Generation of the environmental profile for the specification	p. 83
Generation of the Green Guide rating for each environmental issue	p. 85
Generation of the Summary Rating for each specification	p. 85
Appendix 3 Production of a BRE Environmental Profile for a material using the BRE Environmental Profiles Methodology	p. 87
Inventory analysis	p. 87
Impact assessment	p. 87
Appendix 4 BREEAM case study	p. 88
Appendix 5 Differences in environmental issues from previous editions	p. 90
Contacts and further information	p. 91
References	p. 93
Index	p. 95

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