Overview

Design with Microclimate argues that, as the climate changes and fuels become increasingly expensive, appropriate design of outdoor spaces will become critical. In this practical, informative book, Robert Brown uses vivid illustrations and examples and provides practical tools that can be used in everyday design practice. The heart of the book is Brown's own design process, as he includes useful guidelines to lead designers clearly through the complexity of climate data, precedents, site assessment, microclimate modification, communication, design, and evaluation. Brown strikes an ideal balance of technical information, anecdotes, examples, and illustrations to keep the book engaging and accessible. His emphasis throughout is on creating microclimates that attend to the comfort, health, and well-being of people, animals, and plants.

Full Product Details

9781597267403

Table of Contents

Reviews

. .. This thought-provoking, interdisciplinary book is well illustrated, readable, and at many junctures, surprising. More design treatises like this are needed -- works that contrast the intuitive with the counterintuitive and provide a sense that real change at the human level is within the professional''s scope. ... Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. --S. Hammer, Boston University CHOICE (03/01/2011)

. .. it is an accessible and informative book suitable for beginning students in landscape architecture. --Lu Par Alan Tate, MALA, CSLA, PPLI Landscapes (04/01/2011)

Comfort is more complex than one would think. Design with Microclimate: The Secret to Comfortable Outdoor Space discusses microclimate and the finer details of climate that should go into landscape and architecture in providing a comfortable area outdoors. Not all about temperature, the protection of shade adn the other effects of plants and trees are also discussed. Design with Microclimate is thoughtful and very useful read for any informed landscaper. --James A. Cox Midwest Book Review (11/10/2010) In Design with Microclimate, Robert Brown masterfully outlines the various complexities and considerations embedded in creating comfortable, usable and even popular outdoor spaces. His goal is to encourage designers to think holistically as they strive to design meaningful places. --Traci Rose Rider Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review (11/28/2011) . .. This thought-provoking, interdisciplinary book is well illustrated, readable, and at many junctures, surprising. More design treatises like this are needed -- works that contrast the intuitive with the counterintuitive and provide a sense that real change at the human level is within the professional's scope. ... Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. --S. Hammer, Boston University CHOICE (03/01/2011) . .. it is an accessible and informative book suitable for beginning students in landscape architecture. --Lu Par Alan Tate, MALA, CSLA, PPLI Landscapes (04/01/2011) Design with Microclimate is brilliant. It is the most important, easily readable text discussing microclimate. Climate change and densification of cities demands knowledge of microclimate so that spaces can be created for human comfort, as well as for flora and fauna. The book gives excellent examples of collaboration between design professionals to achieve 'the secret to comfortable outdoor space.' --Cornelia Hahn Oberlande OC FASLA FCSLA, Founder, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architects, Vanco Design with Microclimate is brilliant. It is the most important, easily readable text discussing microclimate. Climate change and densification of cities demands knowledge of microclimate so that spaces can be created for human comfort, as well as for flora and fauna. The book gives excellent examples of collaboration between design professionals to achieve 'the secret to comfortable outdoor space.' --Cornelia Hahn Oberlande OC FASLA FCSLA, Founder, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architects, Vancouver Robert Brown has once again demonstrated an uncanny knack for taking principles of atmospheric physics and blending them with practical approaches suitable for professional and non-professional designers. This is masterful work by an extraordinary teacher, scientist, and designer. Well done! --Ronald R. Stoltz ASLA FCELA, Professor and Associate Dean, College of Landscape Architecture Urban greens are indispensable not only for mitigating global warming through CO2 absorption but also for adapting to the hotter urban environments of today. This book describes numerous ways in which cities around the world can improve thermal comfort and livability by designing and planning urban greens in a 'thermally sound' manner. --Dr. Kazuhiko Takeuchi Vice-Rector of United Nations University and Professor, University of Tokyo Design with Microclimate is brilliant. It is the most important, easily readable text discussing microclimate. Climate change and densification of cities demands knowledge of microclimate so that spaces can be created for human comfort, as well as for flora and fauna. The book gives excellent examples of collaboration between design professionals to achieve 'the secret to comfortable outdoor space.' --Cornelia Hahn Oberlande OC FASLA FCSLA, Founder, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architects, Vancouver . ..This slim, friendly, and occasionally overwhelming primer urges landscape architects to understand the deeper implications of the big trio - topography, vegetation, and structure - and employ these elements more effectively by adding solar and terrestrial radiation, wind, and other climatic elements to the mix. Brown, a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Guelph, employs both expertise and enthusiasm to argue that thermal comfort contributes more than any amenity to susccessful site design. ...A trustworthy, sometimes goofy guide (who intersperses yikes! and duh into the milieu of pyranometers and conduction channels), Brown offers terrific anecdotes to illustrate microclimate concepts... --Diane Hellekson Landscape Architecture Magazine

Design with Microclimate is brilliant. It is the most important, easily readable text discussing microclimate. Climate change and densification of cities demands knowledge of microclimate so that spaces can be created for human comfort, as well as for flora and fauna. The book gives excellent examples of collaboration between design professionals to achieve ''the secret to comfortable outdoor space.' --Cornelia Hahn Oberlande OC FASLA FCSLA, Founder, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architects, Vanco

Author Information

Robert D. Brown is Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph, Canada. He is the senior author of Microclimatic Landscape Design and author of Landscape Assessment for Planning and Design.

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