Provides essential lessons to architects and students on how sustainable architecture can and should be shaped by the unique conditions of a region

Green design is the major architectural movement of our time. Throughout the world architects are producing sustainable buildings in an attempt to preserve the environment and our globe’s natural resources. However, current strategies for forming sustainable solutions are typically too general and fail to take advantage of critical geographical, environmental, and cultural factors particular to a specific place. By focusing on the Pacific Northwest, this book provides essential lessons to architects and students on how sustainable architecture can and should be shaped by the unique conditions of a region.

Pacific Northwest regionalism has consistently supported an architecture aimed at environmental needs and priorities. This book illuminates the history of a "green trail" in the work of key architects of the Northwest. It discusses environmental strategies that work in the region, organized according to nature’s most basic elements--earth, air, water, and fire--and their underlying principles and forces. The book focuses on technologies, materials, and methods, with a final section that examines thirteen exceptional Northwest buildings in detail and in light of their contributions to sustainable architecture.

Critical case studies by Northwest architects illustrate some of the best environmental design work in North America. Notable architects from Seattle, Portland, and British Columbia are included. These projects feature innovative design in water and site stewardship, intelligent technologies, passive energy strategies, ecologically sound building materials, and environmentally sensitive energy management systems.

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A well-designed and beautifully illustrated volume, this is primarily an argument for ecologically friendly approaches, appealing especially to architects and prospective clients, for both individual houses and a variety of public commissions. Highly recommended.

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Part how-to guide, part green-building primer and another part architecture appreciation, this book manages to instruct, inspire and engage in what might otherwise be seen as a dull topic.