5 comments about Prescriptions for a Healthy House.

1. The introduction is a great primer on household toxins that affect us all, and includes references. Everyone should read it!
   
   Most of the book is geared to what to insist on when building a home, but it gives important insights if you're buying a home or wanting to make yours more healthy. Very good section on wiring errors (and how to explain to the electrician what you want), although some of the explanations of how electro-magnetic fields should be understood are slightly inaccurate. Unfortunately, not much about how to mitigate microwave signals, which is perhaps the biggest problem a lot of people will face. Still I wish I'd read this book years ago!



2. This is the perhaps the best book available for architects and builders wanting to create healthier homes. The book that not only explains what the potential hazards in a home are but provides lots of product information, i.e., where to order alternative building materials, less toxic-paint, safe insulation, etc.
   
   A must have for any architect or builder or home owner thinking of building their own home.
   
   
   Dan Stih is the author of Healthy Living Spaces: Top 10 Hazards Affecting Your Health



3. Ones' home is one of the most important factors in ones health, I believe. Todays houses are filled with toxic chemicles that slowly (sometimes quickly) erode the health of the occupants. Paula Baker-Laporte knows from first hand experience how a home affects its occupants - she herself has suffered from chemical poisioning in houses.
   
   As an an architect, she is sharing her years of research and personal experience with the public so that they can also live in a healthy home.
   
   This is a book that everyone in the civilized world should read. It is well written and filled with great information.



4. The book's major strength is that it gives specific wording to put into your contract that will try to ensure a healthy house. But some contractors will take one look at these specs and laugh "yeah, right!" Overall, I recommend John Bower's book "The Healthy House" over this one because it covers more topics and gives much more information.



5. When this new edition of "Prescriptions" came out, it was the most complete of any book about Healthy Homes/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. The combination of architect/doctor/building specialist as authors works very well.
   
   The information is thorough and well documented. They can back up what they say. It is very well organized.
   
   As a Home Builder, I find this to an excellent resource on MCS. On the down side, it is a little bit of a dry read.

No comments about Japan - Culture of Wood: Buildings, Objects, Techniques.

No comments about Prison Architecture.

No comments about Simplified Design of Wood Structures (Parker/Ambrose Series of Simplified Design Guides).

1 comments about Material Architecture: emergent materials for innovative buildings and ecological construction.

1. Materials are on the stage again. We see buildings that are using
   emergent materials creating cutting-edge walls.
   For instance, aquatics center
   for recent Beijing Olympics wowed public and professionals alike.
   The wow effect was a direct result of using Teflon. Building
   professionals are asked by friends what that transparent film is. Yet,
   not many can answer it offhand. This book, by Prof. Fernandez can cure
   that. The book will tell the reader ETFE (Teflon) falls under thermoset
   of synthetic polymers, how it was invented, what are its characteristics and potentials.
   
   The book covers many diverse issues in a very smart way. The book begins
   by introducing how knowledge has been produced and distributed since the
   industrial revolution and how emerging industrial ecology discipline
   influences the invention, selection, and assembly of materials.
   Then the body of the book provides taxonomic analysis of materials.
   Basically they are divided into five material families; Metals, Polymers,
   Ceramics, Composites, and Biomaterials and Loam. Each section provides
   brief history, physical properties, behavior patterns, current usage and
   potentials in the industry.
   
   When a book becomes taxonomic, especially with the jargons of chemistry
   and physics, it could easily become dull and flat. Fernandez is
   well aware of that danger, so he very diligently at the right time of
   reading pulls the reader into actual applications and design potentials.
   Personally, the book was extremely helpful. Unlike most architectural
   material books out there that is mainly focused on the trendy effects of
   skin play, this book probes diligently and thoroughly bridging diverse
   disciplines.
   
   Two thumbs up for his extensive bibliography. Ample websites are also
   provided for further research. Building Science book put together by a
   first-class minded designer. What a book!

No comments about New Waterscapes: Planning, Building and Designing with Water.

No comments about The Organic Approach to Architecture.

1 comments about Smart Materials and Technologies in Architecture.

1. Michelle and Dan - GREAT JOB!!! This book is very insightful on smart/new materials subjects. Because the authors have gone to describe in depth the fundamental characteristics of materials, it really helps the designer to understand how things work at the scale of each materials. I recommend this book for designers/ architects who have interests in smart materials and technologies. NP

No comments about Environmental Planning for Site Development.

No comments about Stay Cool: A Design Guide for the Built Environment in Hot Climates.