Tertiary sources compile, summarize, index, or help identify scholarly sources on a topic. They are useful for background research or to get an overview of a topic before delving into secondary or primary sources. Common tertiary sources for modern languages include dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and other reference sources. Below are two encyclopedias on sustainability topics that you can access through the library.
You can also search the library catalog for the words encyclopedia of sustainability to find a selection of books that give an overview of several aspects of sustainability. Here are a few to get started:
Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology by
The Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology (ESST) addresses the grand challenge for science and engineering today. It provides unprecedented, peer-reviewed coverage in more than 550 separate entries comprising 38 topical sections. ESST establishes a foundation for the many sustainability and policy evaluations being performed in institutions worldwide. An indispensable resource for scientists and engineers in developing new technologies and for applying existing technologies to sustainability, the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology is presented at the university and professional level needed for scientists, engineers, and their students to support real progress in sustainability science and technology. Although the emphasis is on science and technology rather than policy, the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology is also a comprehensive and authoritative resource for policy makers who want to understand the scope of research and development and how these bottom-up innovations map on to the sustainability challenge.
Sustainable Built Environments by
This volume in the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, Second Edition, describes the breadth of science and engineering knowledge critical to advancing sustainable built environments, from architecture and design, mechanical engineering, lighting, and materials to water and energy, public policy, and economics. Covering both building, landscape and green infrastructure design and management, detailed consideration is given to how the building sector, the biggest player in the energy use equation, can minimize energy demand while providing measurable gains for productivity, health, and the environment. With a focus on the environmental context, the reader will understand how sustainable design merges the natural, minimum resource conditioning solutions of the past (daylight, solar heat, and natural ventilation) with the innovative technologies including nature-based solutions of the present. The desired result is an integrated "intelligent" and as socially "just as possible" system that supports individual control with expert negotiation for resource consciousness.
Solar Thermal Energy by
This volume of the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, Second Edition, describes technologies that actively convert solar radiation into useful heat in a temperature range from just above ambient up to more than 1,000°C. Applications cover a broad range of energy services such as space heating, cooking, domestic hot water supply, electrical power generation, and high temperature thermochemical processes. The major developments that have led to currently available technologies for solar thermal energy applications were initiated mainly after the first oil shock in 1973. Solar thermal energy is widely used already for heating purposes (water, space) in the "low" temperature range up to about 100°C employing mainly nonconcentrating collectors, whereas higher temperatures can be achieved with more sophisticated solar collector technologies. Temperatures over 200°C typically require concentrating solar radiation using mirror systems. Several different technologies are described in detail in this volume, including solar collector systems in the lower temperature range, the direct use of solar radiation for food processing, namely cooking and drying, the production of electricity through conversion of solar radiation first to heat, driving a mechanical conversion system coupled to an electric generator, the use of solar radiation to drive chemical processes, and many more.
