New book for cost effective eco-communities

26.11.09

One Planet Communities: A real-life guide to sustainable living
by Pooran Desai, OBE

With the Copenhagen Climate Conference taking place this month there couldn’t have been a better time for this book. Pooran Desai uses the practical real-life community projects that he has been directly involved in all around the world, to show that low carbon sustainable living is not just an aspiration but is affordable and achievable right now – and can actually bring a better quality of life.

With increased legislation and incentives, developers and local authorities have been making some headway towards sustainable communities, and the public considers climate change the greatest threat to the planet. This in turn has translated into greater interest from homebuyers and residential tenants in eco-friendly buildings and greener lifestyles.

However, against this encouraging backdrop, there is a huge amount of confusing literature on how to create sustainable communities. An ideology of green architecture and sustainable design has grown which is limiting design and master-planning for efficient cost-effective delivery of homes. 

Starting from first principles and using the real-life experience of developing sustainable communities cost-effectively, One Planet Communities cuts through the confusion. It presents an inspiring, clear and simple framework that will allow students, developers, surveyors, engineers, policy-makers, architects and planners to structure their thinking.

About the Author:
Pooran Desai studied at Oxford and Cambridge Universities before co-founding award-winning environmental organisation, BioRegional in 1994. He initiated the BedZED eco-village in south London, which remains the benchmark for sustainable communities in the UK; for which he received an OBE. In 2005, he co-founded BioRegional Quintain Ltd, a property development company, of which he is sustainability director.  The company has a portfolio of over 1000 homes being built in the UK using One Planet Living principles.

Published by Wiley, December 2009
ISBN: 9780470715574
£24.00/€30.00, Paperback Original