What makes building materials sustainable? How can we reduce how much "grey energy" is produced in the building process? And how does a Life Cycle Analysis work? These are questions which are becoming increasingly more common in the context of sustainable construction. The DETAIL Green Book Sustainable construction techniques offers a thorough guide to ecological building design and sustainable construction methods, which will be particularly valuable for architects. The authors provide an overview of the most relevant databases and certification standards for building products and illustrate how a Life Cycle Analysis is conducted. They also identify key ways of optimising the planning process in line with ecological criteria, while offering advice for the selection of building materials and elements. Detailed documentation from five buildings constructed in Europe and North America serve to illustrate the associated assessment processes in this book.