By Pablo M. La Roche. CRC Press, 2024, ISBN: 9781003014829

Ian Taylor reviews this book, which he praises as a must-read for anyone interested in carbon neutral design and sustainable architecture. The far-reaching implications of this book are expected to provide a valuable reference for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the general public alike.

The third edition of Carbon Neutral Architectural Design, written by Pablo M La Roche, is an update of his book, first published in 2012 – with new chapters on daylighting and nature-based cooling and significant updates throughout, including a new section on embodied carbon.This comprehensive primer for carbon neutral design offers examples of current research, best practice, and fundamental design approaches that can contribute to the reduction in a building's carbon impact.

La Roche explains the importance of carbon neutral design in the context of climate change, highlighting how building form, material choice, energy use, water and waste impact on emissions. He draws on his experience as professor of architecture at California State Polytechnic University, and interim director of the Lyle Centre for Regenerative Studies in the College of Environmental Design, as well as a principal and sustainable design services lead at Arcadis, to present examples of his arguments towards the development of more passive and nature-based solutions through the design of climate-responsive building envelopes that harvest energy, and reduce or eliminate the need for heating, mechanical ventilation, and cooling systems.

One of the key strengths of the book is its ability to balance theoretical explanations with practical applications. La Roche explains the physics behind various design solutions from first principles, demonstrating the relevance of particular approaches to improving comfort and reducing energy demands and carbon impacts. The use of clear graphic diagrams helps illustrate the inter-relationships between energy transfers and human comfort, providing strong design leads that should help develop fruitful design initiatives.

The book's focus on thermal comfort and climate is particularly noteworthy. La Roche argues that an understanding of the climate and interpretation of climatic data should underpin all design work, explaining climate classification systems and demonstrating how these can provide data for design to respond to. The discussion of bioclimatic design, including the use of bioclimatic charts and digital climate analysis tools, is also a highlight, providing a clear and compelling case for the benefits of designing buildings that work with, rather than against, their environmental context.

The book provides a wealth of information on current research and best practice in carbon neutral design. For example, La Roche explains the physiological explanation of our perception of comfort, including the importance of heat balance and the relative impacts of air temperature, radiation, air motion, and relative humidity on human comfort. He also discusses the consideration that should be given to personal and environmental factors such as weight and age, which impact on an individual's acceptable upper and lower limits of comfort.

The explanation of adaptive comfort and the research examples given provide a compelling case for the benefits of the free-running building over one that is mechanically ventilated and cooled. La Roche describes how our expectations, degree of personal control, and the relationship to external conditions influence our acceptance of what is considered to be comfortable. Psychological, social and cultural factors are now seen to have more impact than considered in the original adaptive comfort criteria, and adjustments for differences in clothing influence the experience of spaces.

The book also discusses the importance of designing for outdoor thermal comfort, demonstrating how the consideration of these same principles can improve external conditions – especially important in more extreme climates where external air temperatures, surface radiation, air movement, and high relative humidity can make conditions intolerable for large periods of time. Design tools that can help understand the empirical impacts of providing shade, developing cooler surfaces, and changing air movement are described with clear diagrams and references.

La Roche's experience as a teacher and researcher is evident throughout the book, which will serve very well as a design primer for students. Each chapter offers nuggets of useful information, links to resources, and wisdom that will fill gaps in knowledge and encourage further enquiry. The book is a specialist book, for those who recognise the importance of the topic and the general principles but are looking for a more detailed assessment, and a sense check to give guidance beyond the greenwash of current sustainable design credentials.

The implications of this book are far-reaching, with potential applications for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the general public. For researchers, the book provides a wealth of information on current research and best practice in carbon neutral design, as well as a comprehensive bibliography and clear index. For policymakers, the book highlights the importance of incorporating carbon neutral design principles into building codes and regulations. For practitioners, the book provides practical insights and design leads that can be applied to real-world projects. And for the general public, the book raises awareness of the critical role that buildings play in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and the need for urgent action to reduce these impacts.

Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in carbon neutral design and sustainable architecture. Its comprehensive coverage, clear explanations, and practical insights make it an essential resource for practitioners, researchers, and students alike. As La Roche notes, reducing anthropogenic emissions is more critical than ever, and this book provides a timely and important contribution to the ongoing debate about how to achieve carbon neutral buildings.

The book's conclusions on the importance of architecture that relates to the particular microclimate of the location, and allows for an active role for the occupants of the building to adjust its operation to influence their comfort, is a clear rallying cry. The comprehensive bibliography, which includes extensive published research papers that form the backdrop to much of the content in the book, together with the clear index, make this book a really useful primer on the topic of low carbon design, whether you are a design architect or engineer, a researcher, a student or teacher.

In terms of its contribution to current knowledge and research, the book makes a significant impact by providing a detailed assessment of the importance of carbon neutral design and the role that architects and designers can play in reducing building emissions. La Roche's intent is clear: to provide a comprehensive primer for carbon neutral design that will help achieve the urgent goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.

The book provides a wealth of information on current research and best practice in carbon neutral design, including the use of digital climate analysis tools such as Ladybug, CLIMATESCOUT, and IESve. The discussion of bioclimatic design, including the use of bioclimatic charts, is also a highlight, providing a clear and compelling case for the benefits of designing buildings that work with, rather than against, their environmental context.

Throughout the book, La Roche draws on his research experience at UCLA and Cal Poly Pomona to present examples of passive cooling and heating strategies, including evaporative cool towers and indirect evaporative cooling using ponds on roofs. These innovative approaches offer significant opportunities for reducing energy demands and carbon impacts, and demonstrate the potential for nature-based solutions to play a major role in achieving carbon neutral buildings.

In conclusion, this book is an essential read for anyone committed to developing architecture using fewer resources and operating with lower energy demands. Its comprehensive coverage, clear explanations, and practical insights make it a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, and students alike. The book's focus on thermal comfort, climate, and bioclimatic design provides a wealth of information on current research and best practice in carbon neutral design, and its implications are far-reaching, with potential applications for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the general public.