evaluation, production, consumption, recycling and regulation of building materials with the intention of clarifying the relationship between these realms, and therefore contributing to possible economic conversion strategies linking these areas. The role of information and education will be highlighted as a crucial connecting thread. Building is a pivotal sector. It is responsible for a vast quantity of the industrial economys material throughputaround 40 percent (Adriaanse, Bringezu, & et al, 1997). North American buildings absorb about 65 percent of the continents electricity and generate about 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (U.S. Department of Energy-Energy Information Administration, 1999, 2001). 60 percent of the zone-depleting substances used in the U.S. come from building construction and systems (Wilson & Yost, 2001a). Building materials, therefore, are important because of the immense social and environmental impact of extracting, processing and maintaining them. But buildings are also our personal environments, products in which we are constantly immersed. As Churchill said, we shape our buildings and our buildings shape us. Building materials surround us, and (unfortunately) are literally part of the air we breathe. Compared to most other materials in our world, they are also much longer lived, with a much longer use phase. The industry is not centralized in one place but exists in virtually every community. It is a service industry but is also a major user and generator of material resources, and has important connections with manufacturing and other industries. Our relationship to building materials is thus a major influence on our economy, the natural world, and our personal and spiritual well-being. It is not possible in this thesis to deal properly with the many questions of urban design, some of which were on Churchills