Posted on October 18, 2021 in Review of the Week
Bourland, Dana. Island Press, 2021
200p index, 9781642831283 $30.00, 9781642831290 $29.99
With Gray to Green Communities, Bourland, vice president for the environment at the JPB Foundation, hopes to make readers aware of problems that need to be addressed with existing housing needs and of how increasing climate changes will affect housing. A former vice-president of Green Initiatives for Enterprise Community Partners, a national affordable housing intermediary, the author captures the essence of the problem in the second paragraph of the introduction: “The only housing stock within reach for most people living in the United States is inefficient, expensive to operate and maintain, unprepared for intense weather events, and potentially unhealthy.” Bourland clarifies the myriad challenges current housing stock faces, and the benefits of designing/building with a sustainable/green mentality. She even provides a series of suggestions that can be implemented by individuals now. Accomplishing this will not be easy, but change needs to start happening immediately in order to give the generations that follow a chance at life. This book is required reading for designers, educators, students, and anyone who has a conscience.
Summing Up: Essential. All readers.
Reviewer: R. P. Meden, Marymount University
Interdisciplinary Subjects: Environmental Studies
Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences – Economics
Choice Issue: Oct 2021
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