486G!

A few weeks ago, we had a class discussion involving some guest speakers who discussed sustainability.

I found the discussion pretty interesting, despite being pretty familiar with the entire topic at hand.

What they discussed seemed pretty futuristic, more like concepts they expected the coming generation to consider. One standing moment was when she picked out the crayon drawing of a completely self sustaining house. Now I’m sure most would’ve imagined the future where desperation has driven us to such extreme means. However, sustainable architecture has already arrived.

Take Oberlin College’s Adam Jospesh Lewis Centre. This building is run entirely upon itself. The building uses conventional means to control its temperature, for example systematic opening and closing of blinds and windows. The building powers itself solely on its solar paneled roof, while conserving the energy it consumes using innovate wall building techniques. This building even treats its own sewage. By use of natural bacteria as well as a replicated wetlands environment, the AJLC treats its waste water and reintroduces it into their plumbing system. Despite being approved only for cleaning purposes, the reintroduction of former sewage water into a closed system is extraordinary.

Closer to home, we have Vancouver’s Nation Works Yard, or Greenworks, which earned a gold LEED certifacation. This building is said to consume only 34% of the energy consumed by conventional buildings.

So after measuring everybody’s individual carbon footprint. (Mine being 7tons due to air travel) One can see that implementing this new architectural concept would drastically slow the consumption of energy, thereby lowering your footprint.

As desperation increases, so will demand. Therefore in the coming future, I predict firms specializing or practicing this form of architecture will progress successfully into the future, whereas firms who lack in this form of expertise may fall at the way side. As an individual of the new generation, I know exactly which home that I’d rather live in. That home is a happy earth.

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