Many books set out with the ambition of being authoritative and comprehensive – few succeed. Great Bow Yard: Anatomy of an Eco Build does not fall into that camp. Resoundingly, it succeeds because first and foremost it is exhaustingly detailed, secondly, it is rigorous in its execution, and last and but no means least it is resolutely honest about the process of bringing an eco-build to fruition.
How so? Well to begin at the beginning, so to speak, the aims of the development are laid down:
- Reduction in CO2 emissions, in construction and use of the buildings;
- Recycled materials, sustainably sourced materials;
- Positve local impact economically, socially and environmentally;
- Reduced water use;
- Healthy buildings. Thereafter they each are expanded upon, adding in detail in each sub-chapter.
Next, the site is laid out before us and explained; we are introduced to the architects, the contractors and quantity surveyors; we have the design concepts, foundations and forms of construction are described and detailed drawings are laid out on the pages. Masonry and timber specifications are relayed; roof materials, drainage, insulation and heating briefs are written up for our scrutiny.
You get the picture – this is an A-Z, a compendium and a ‘how-to’ eco build. Might all this exactitude become a little worthy (and wordy) at times? Not at all. The writing is never verbose; it’s crisp and workmanlike – you won’t find many a metaphor on the pages – and it is just right for the job at hand.
What’s most enjoyable, for this reader at any rate, is that the author pulls no punches. He is prepared to criticise - in print if not explicitly by name – planning departments for causing silly and unnecessary delays brought about by their own bureaucracy, and tardy sub-contractors. The author’s also prepared to admit the developer’s own shortcomings as well as its business objectives and financial projections.
Nothing is hidden; the cupboard is laid bare for everyone to see what’s inside. The words competitive advantage or commercial self-interest are not entertained by the Ecos Trust, the body behind the project, at least in the manner of openness as witnessed in this book. Want to know how much was spent on legal fees, or marketing costs? Simply flip the pages and you’ll find it written down for all to read.
How about the market for eco-homes – want to know about that? Well, there are a few pages about the subject. As there is about valuing eco-homes, and marketing and agents and lawyers, and planers, and SAP ratings, and μ-values, and plenty of other topics too. Almost certainly, should they look hard enough someone will find something that’s not been included or an anomaly, but in order to find one they will have to look hard.
Visually, the book’s a treat. The photography, by Steve Townsend, is first-rate. At times he stands back and allows the building to fill his view finder; on other occasions he gets in close on a window louver, for example, allowing natural shadows to create contrast on the black/white image. The artiness is juxtaposed by dozens of ‘workaday’ photographs that document the build process in great detail. There’s something for everyone here, then.
Likewise, the design and typesetting artfully combines the necessity of laying out the detailed text alongside the images of the construction process and finished vision – never an easy task because to the uninitiated (or otherwise indifferent) reader one photograph of a pile of bricks, for example, or an underfloor heating system can look much the same as the next.
Lastly, amidst all the praise are there any downsides to the book? Well, despite quite rightly being printed and bound on recycled paper using vegetable based inks, and in the UK (no high freight miles here, thank you very much), the book’s production could just have been, well, a little more substantial. The softback covers are a little underweight for the scale and ambition of the book.
But maybe that’s nit-picking, and is really only mentioned for the want of finding anything else to be critical about. Because, when all’s read and done, Great Bow Yard: Anatomy of an Eco Build, is as good a handbook as any developer, student or self-builder could want to guide them through the process, pitfalls and pleasures of project managing and constructing an eco-build.
All power, then, to principal author Nigel Griffiths, Ecos Trust of whom Ecos Homes Limited, the developer of Great Bow Yard, is the development subsidiary, and to the publisher eco-logic books.
Great Bow Yard: Anatomy of an Eco Build
Published by eco-logic books, 2007. ISBM 978-189923314-4
Paperback, perfect bound, 94pp, 300x210mm, full colour and mono.
Price: £20; pre-publication price: £15 from eco-logic books
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