(From Island Press publishers)
When the Woods Hole Research Center needed a new administration
building, its scientists and staff decided that the building should
utilize “state-of-the-shelf” green building techniques and materials.
However, the new office had to conform with the laws and building codes
of the time, and with materials that were then available—no matter how
frustrating these requirements were to the resident scientists and
contractors.
George M. Woodwell, founder of the Woods Hole Research Center, was
intimately involved in the design and construction of the Gilman Ordway
Campus, which was completed in 2003 in collaboration with McDonough +
Partners. In The Nature of a House – Building a World that Works,
He details the challenges they faced, some of which are familiar to
everyone who tries to “build green”: the vagaries of building codes,
the whims of inspectors, the obstreperousness of subcontractors, the
search for appropriate materials, and the surprises involved in turning
an old house into a modern office building.
Woodwell puts the building in a larger context, not only within the
work of the Center and the tradition of Woods Hole, but in the global
need to minimize our carbon emissions and overall environmental impact.
Building a world that works requires rethinking how we design, reuse,
and live in the built environment while preserving the functional
integrity of the landscape.
link to publisher page
