1) What is the relationship between architecture and the climate crisis we face today?
The relationship is immediate and critical. It is now widely understood that our buildings are responsible for about half our greenhouse emissions and energy use. What is too often forgotten is that the spread of our built environment has destroyed biomass and annihilated massive areas of functioning ecosystems. It must be remembered that agriculture goes hand-in-hand with city making – you can’t have one without the other and, historically, both activities have transformed the living landscape. The reach of the environment as we have constructed it through urbanisation and agriculture is such that the entire planet is affected – the planet is so different from what it was before we built all over it that it now has what is effectively an artificial ecosystem.
2) How can sustainable or eco-architecture help solve this crisis?
Properly understood, ecological architecture is all about making buildings – with all their associated infrastructure and support systems – in such a way that they do not damage the essential living processes on which we depend for our own lives. The holy grail of eco-architecture is restorative, replacing and ultimately even improving on the conditions that enable the biosphere to sustain itself. The way we build is who we are – we have to become a global ecological civilisation and it’s through our buildings we will express that civilisation.
3) What is the greatest obstacle for a greener architecture to be deployed?
The greatest obstacle is a combination of widespread ignorance about the damage done by conventional architecture, and gross underestimation of the scale of the problem. There is a lot of prejudice about how buildings ’should’ look, and far too much concern about aesthetics at the expense of performance. There is no ‘eco-architecture style’, but at the same time, if you try and make buildings that really address ecological and climate concerns in a meaningful, effective way they are likely to look different from mainstream ‘trendy’ buildings. Architects are full of prejudices about what buildings ’should’ look like and are often fearful that being ‘ecological’ means having their design freedom constrained. Nothing could be further from the truth – if an architect or designer really understands their job they’ll find the discipline of designing with nature to be liberating and creative.
4) What has been /is your biggest challenge as an “eco architect?
It used to be getting across the idea that the environment had to have priority. Now the biggest problem I have as a practicing eco architect is that ’sustainability’ has become a trendy buzzword and everybody is claiming that they do it! In reality, there are still very few architects that are seriously dealing with ‘the environment’ and in the marketplace my voice is drowned by conventional and corporate practices that now say ‘we are green’. How is a prospective client able to make a choice when there are no real standards or measures or accreditation processes for distinguishing ‘real’ eco designers and architects from smooth talking imposters!
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Construction began in 2006, and it will be finished later this year. The architecture firm behind this 71-story high building is Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The skyscraper will be home to the China National Tobacco Corporation.
Let’s see, this building will include solar panels, wind turbines, greywater recycling, efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning, among other features.
The Pearl River Tower will have motorized louvers that open or close according to the position of the sun, and the interior and exterior temperatures. These help keep the building cool, and provide ventilation.
As for the wind turbines, they will generate 4% of the tower’s power. Together with the solar panels, the turbines will power the HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning).
On the whole, the building will be 58% more energy efficient than conventional skyscrapers.
The University of British Columbia, in Canada, started building last September what is being referred to as the potentially greenest construction in North America. It will be home to CIRS (Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability). The required investment has been $37 million.
The CIRS building will generate all the electricity it needs; and all the water it needs will be collected on-site, from rainwater. Stormwater and grey waters will also be treated. As a result, there will be no waste water. Among the many energy sources considered are fuel cells, solar photovoltaic, solar hot water heaters, and biomass (all of them renewable). The building will be completed in spring/summer 2011.
The UBC has already developed an interesting and successful project called ecotrek, which allowed the campus to reduce its energy use over 20%, and water use by 30%. Yearly electricity and water savings are around $2.6 million. Further, greenhouse gas emissions were reduced 15%. Through the ecotrek project, 300 of UBC’s buildings were upgraded and retrofitted.
Energy efficiency is the relationship between the amount of energy consumed and the products and services obtained. It can be improved by the use of technology, legislation and education.
A program of energy efficiency should include the following issues: power consumption for residential, commercial and industrial sectors, efficient machines, cogeneration, sustainable architecture, and transportation. It should also include appropriate legislation; because for example, low energy prices cause an artificial increase in demand. Finally, education at schools, universities and companies is crucial; we must all be involved in this subject. Energy efficiency should be part of the long term energy planning.
Countries with low energy resources have the highest levels of energy efficiency in order to reduce imports, examples are Japan, Denmark and Chile.
Chile installed the Energy Efficiency Program (PPEE) in 2005. PPEE includes an educational program for primary schools, replacement of electric engines in the industrial sector, efficient lighting in the residential, commercial and public buildings; and studies of cogeneration for the power system.
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US government, the national unemployment rate, last October, rose to 10.2%, the highest one since April 1983.
Unemployment means wanting to work and not finding a job. It may mean hunger, despair, lack of opportunities.
On the other hand, we have the highest levels of CO2 in the atmosphere recorded in thousands of years. More CO2 means more greenhouse effect. More greenhouse effect means a warmer planet, with sometimes unpredictable consequences, and other already perceivable effects such as droughts, floods, rising sea levels, and other such natural disasters.
What if we could link these two problems and solve them simultaneously?
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Starbucks is one of the largest coffee companies around. It is a tremendously popular store, growing and expanding to more and more countries at an impressive rate.
It’s been a few years since they’ve been working on their environmental impact. Lately, they’ve been developing quite interesting initiatives, and have many plans.
Their work is organized in a number of areas.
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Marriott International owns more than 3,000 hotels in the US, and works in 66 countries around the world. It is one of the leading companies in the hotel industry.
For a while now it has been carrying out a strong green initiative. Their latest announcement has been that the number of green hotels they build will be risen 1000%.
Marriott together with Conservation International has developed an environmental strategy which is made up of five main points.
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