Sustainability and tradition, two sides of the coin -- Ten thousand years of building, history is in our future -- Living traditions and the original green -- Tradition and innovation in green architecture and urbanism -- The four greens -- Bodies and Buildings, microcosm in traditional architecture and urbanism -- Sustainable refurbishment, a key component of the built heritage -- Environmental priorities and traditional ways of building -- Cultural sustainability and the renewal of tradition -- Our health in response to the built environment -- The road to the natural house -- Afterword, the green tradition, innovating the future.

Gives an insight into the current thinking on the subject of tradition and sustainabilty, and looks at the lessons which tradition and the vernacular can teach about sustaibaility.