Whilst this book will be of obvious interest to designers, it will also help those in other disciplines to understand how buildings can be made to lessen their environmental impact and yet provide high-quality, valuable space.

Sustainability has to be at the heart of 21st century design – but is informed by, and will, in turn, inform, other associated technical, conservation, aesthetic and financial considerations. Bringing these building blocks of any incipient scheme to the notice of designers and students is sometimes difficult, but nevertheless rewarding when achieved. This book by David Shiers and Miles Keeping provides not only an extremely comprehensive catalogue of useful references and methods, but also illuminating sections tracing the progress of projects from early design onwards through the realisation process. Here, architectural and engineering solutions are analysed from first sketches to provide evidence of the underlying science against the more elusive, but necessary quotient of inspirational design.

This process, part practical, part intellectual (as evident in Arup’s strong research base) never loses the thread of the necessity to take environmental impact, in both resourcing and construction, absolutely seriously from generative thoughts through to completion.

As a textbook, this volume excels – using case studies as exemplars, brings the design process into focus by providing a tantalising insight into how a factual knowledge base can be utilised to provide a backbone to the excitement of actual design.

The research and the many digital learning links used here are arranged within a constructed academic framework and so will be of great help to students of the built environment as an easy-to-access source of information. Perhaps more importantly, many of the ideas and projects presented here will, for the property professionals of today and tomorrow, provide inspiration. This book is to be recommended to students and practitioners alike.