In our current era, where human activity is the main cause of planetary change, there's growing concern about how our cities and towns function. Think of a city as having a "metabolism"--it consumes resources to be built and to operate.

This book presents a new way to analyze a city's environmental impact. It introduces a method to track the complete lifecycle of all the materials and energy a city uses. This process follows them from the very beginning, where resources like water, energy, and raw materials are first taken from the environment; through their use, as they are transformed to construct and run the city; and all the way to the very end, to see what happens to them after buildings are demolished and systems are no longer in use.

By creating this full "cradle-to-grave" picture, designers and planners can identify key problems--like hidden energy consumption and carbon emissions--and develop innovative solutions to create more efficient and environmentally friendly cities.