Sustainability at the Cutting Edge is an essential guide to understanding the future direction of sustainable technology. This fully updated new edition deals not only with current best practice and state of the art case studies, but with the very latest emerging technologies which will transform the relationship between buildings and energy. Professor Smith describes how buildings can be made to significantly reduce their reliance on fossil-based energy by the use of solar and geothermal resources. He also describes a range of renewable energy generating technologies. As sustainable building becomes increasingly essential with the advance of climate change, government legislation and international treaties, this is valuable knowledge for every architect, engineer and designer. This immensely practical book is packed with useful diagrams, charts and colour photographs to illustrate a variety of the most recent case studies, including the education building, the Core, at the Eden Project in Cornwall. As well as exploring cutting edge developments in photovoltaics (PV) this revised edition also includes the latest data from the 2006 Carbon Trust report on wave and tide, and new material on the latest advances in bioenergy and marine technologies. Buildings are currently a major part of the carbon emissions problem. This book indicates how they may become part of the solution. * Introduces the very latest in practical sustainability techniques * First point of reference for all architects and engineers who want their designs to be both responsive and cutting edge * Useful diagrams, graphs and photographs illustrate the diverse technologies being developed to create optimum eco-efficiency in our built environment