Ecohouse-A Design Guide. (It's up to Us).

By Sue Roaf, with Manuel Fuentes and Stephanie Thomas. Oxford: Architectural Press. 2001. [pounds sterling]24.95

It's great to read a book with a no-nonsense message. Sue Roaf's is this: we are doomed unless we do something about it, and we architects in particular must design responsibly if the planet is to be saved. 'Architects who cannot incorporate energy and water conservation and reuse, and renewable energy into their buildings, will become dinosaurs, as will their white elephant buildings.'

This book is a design manual for those involved with making houses more sustainable. The way houses perform is explained by analogy (eg The Third Skin, The Tea Cosy, The Swallow etc), which is an attractive way to describe building performance to non-experts. Later chapters describe in detail photovoltaics, solar hot water systems and passive solar design. And between these is sensible advice about choosing materials, detailing to avoid cold bridges, health and happiness in the home, even an offering by Christopher Day on the importance of soul in dwellings. Twenty examples of ecohouses from round the world complete this guide, which is written to be informal and readable.

The only quibble I have is that it tries to cover too much in its 300-odd pages. Much that is included is covered elsewhere (to be fair, this is probably acknowledged by the book's good bibliography). Christopher Day's chapter hardly has a chance to get going, and is better dealt with in his own books. Issues such as disabled access, noise, fire, security, and defensible space are included, but I feel are tangential to the core of the book. And when there are sections about building in earthquake and cyclone zones, I slightly wonder who exactly the book was written for.