Green Building: An Engineering Approach to Sustainable Construction

by Christian M. Carrico PhD, Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Overview

Green Building: An Engineering Approach to Sustainable Construction fills a void in green building which has good textbook options for practitioners, architects, and sustainability experts, but not an engineering focused textbook focused on green building. This new text takes an engineering approach to evaluating green building techniques, systems, and materials. The book examines the built environment from inside out, looking at minimizing environmental impacts while also considering the economics and energy use and efficiency. While not a test-prep book, it will provide the knowledge foundation that will help prepare the students to take the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accreditation exam.

As students are often unclear on the evolving employment prospects in this field, particularly for the engineer, the textbook also features six case studies showing different career pathways for engineers in this arena.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780128243657
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	06/27/2025
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. Kip Carrico is an Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering at New Mexico Tech. Dr. Carrico’s area of specialization is air quality, aerosols, climate change and their relationship to energy. His experience includes co-authorship on over 50 technical journal articles in the peer-reviewed literature. He has taught junior-senior level classes on air quality, thermodynamics, energy and the environment, and green building among others. Prior to joining the faculty at New Mexico Tech, he served as a senior scientist and project manager at AECOM, Inc., providing consulting for industrial clients, many in the energy sector. Previous positions included research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University and postdoctoral scholar at the Georgia Institute of Technology Civil and Environmental Engineering program. Dr. Carrico earned a PhD in Environmental Engineering with an air quality and climate specialization from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: How Have We Arrived Here?
2. Motivation: Why Do It Differently?
3. Energy Mechanics: Key Underlying Concepts
4. Buildings and Energy Use: Embodied and Ongoing Building Energy Use
5. Green Design: Starting the Project or Renovation Right
6. Materials: Choosing the Best Options
7. Engineered Mechanical Systems: Evaluating System Choices
8. Hydro Systems: Water is Energy
9. Onsite Renewable Energy Systems: Advancing Distributed Energy Production
10. Indoor Environmental Quality: Maintaining Healthy Buildings
11. Green Sites: Harmonizing the Built and Surrounding Natural Environments
12. Economics and Policy Options: Choosing Cost Effective Measures
13. Resiliency Engineering: Designing for Future Disruptions

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From the Publisher

Covers problems ranging from building heat loss to our evolving energy infrastructure to global climate change all relate to energy (and mass) balance