BARRIERS TO BUILDING GREEN

It is becoming increasingly clear that the natural environment is being seriously damaged by human activity, and that "green" buildings could help to reverse the trend. And yet destructive design and construction practices continue. Why? Researcher Adam Davis has come up with some answers. In a recent study, he found that major barriers to "building green" are lack of financial incentives to builders, lack of accessible information for designers and builders, and a poor understanding of the regulatory climate among clients. Next week he will explain these barriers further and suggest solutions that can be undertaken now. (Shown here: The Real Goods Solar Living Center in Hopland, California designed by Van der Ryn Architects, a firm that has been building green for decades. Photo: Richard Barnes)

THE CAD MANAGERS GUIDEBOOK

Running a CAD department is a difficult job. And it's not getting any easier despite the vast collective experience that architects have amassed over the past decade or two. How do you set standards for drawing layers, symbols, fonts, and line types? How do you establish in-house conventions for file naming, outsourcing, and archiving? Now available to help answer those questions is The CAD Managers Guidebook by industry expert Ralph Grabowski, author of over 50 books about AutoCAD and related subjects. Next week we'll hear his advice about the use of color in CAD systems.

EXPERIMENTAL HOUSES

For most people, houses are a mundane backdrop to everyday life. Most houses are not designed as much as they are mass produced. However a few houses are not only designed, they are experimental propositions, architectural inquiries. A new book by Nicolas Pople explores several dozen experiments in modern residential design. We'll take a look at three of them, the Craven Road House (pictured) in Toronto by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, and the Can Lis and Can Feliz on Majorca by Jorn Utzon, the Danish architect better known for his stunning design of the Sydney Opera House. Next week Pople will explain the nature of these experiments and their outcomes.