Book excerpt: Like its predecessors, this fourth edition of The Green Guide to Specification provides designers and specifiers with easy-to-use guidance on how to make the best environmental choices when selecting construction materials and components. It is more comprehensive than its predecessors; it contains more than 1200 specifications used in six types of building: • Commercial buildings, such as offices • Educational buildings, such as schools and universities • Healthcare buildings, such as hospitals • Retail • Residential • Industrial. The principal building elements covered in this edition of The Green Guide to Specification include: • Floors • Roofs • Walls • Windows • Insulation • Landscaping. The performance of each specification is measured against a range of environmental impacts, including: • climate change • toxicity • fossil fuel and ozone depletion • levels of emissions and pollutants • mineral and water extraction. The Green Guide to Specification provides robust information to assist decision-making by translating numerical life-cycle assessment data into a simple A+ to E scale of environmental ratings, enabling specifiers to make meaningful comparisons between materials and components. The Green Guide to Specification is an essential tool for architects, surveyors, building managers and property owners seeking to reduce the environmental impact of their buildings by informed and responsible selection of construction materials and components.