A VALUABLE compendium of information has been issued by the Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers in a publication entitled “Recommendations for the Computation of Heat Requirements for Buildings” (Pp. iii+41. Is. 9d.) This comprises a section of the guide to current practice which was-recently compiled for the use of members, and it places at the disposal of all interested in the subject a most comprehensive collection of data strictly in accordance with present-day practice. The information is conveniently grouped in three parts. That on temperature-rise and rates of change gives the recommended values applicable to buildings ranging alphabetically from aircraft sheds to warehouses. The design of heating and ventilating installations has been, in recent years, greatly influenced by legislation affecting factories, and a special section has been devoted to this class of building. Heat transmittance co-efficients for walls, floors and roofs in a variety of materials constitute the second part, which also includes data as to the allowances to be made for height and for conditions of intermittent heating. The third part deals with conductivity data and the calculation of overall coefficients for composite walls, floors and roofs. Included in it is a table of thermal conductivity and resistivity of practically all the proprietary materials used in building construction. Much of the information given has been obtained from such independent sources as the National Physical Laboratory and the U. S. Bureau of Standards, and for the benefit of those unfamiliar with heat-loss calculations as applied to buildings a typical example is included.