Get Sust! Issue 26

COMMENT

Future-proofing buildings... is it time to for a make-over?

It’s London fashion week, and apparently (though I don’t follow such things, honest) the punters have decided they didn’t like the futuristic looks designers had predicted for 2007, so the catwalks this week are likely to be unusually conservative.

What does this have to do with sustainable construction, you’re probably wondering? Well last week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) managed to persuade governments from around the world to agree to adopt its latest climate change report. Their prognosis is that the average global temperature change will be between 2 and 4.5 degrees C, but temperatures higher than 4.5 degrees C “cannot be excluded”.

Commenting on this news, Professor Mike Hulme (Director of Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia) said that this is in line with the Centre’s four UKCIP02 scenarios (from low emissions to high emissions) – which means that here in the UK we are likely to see more heatwaves, more heavy winter rain, and less wintry weather.

At the moment all the emphasis is - rightly - going on ways to reduce the nation’s carbon emissions, and as Get Sust readers know only too well, this has various implications for Building Regulations, and the various voluntary Codes that are springing up like the unfortunately early daffodils in our gardens.

That’s fine, but the question I’d like you to ponder this month is are these assorted “requirements” going far enough to encourage the design of buildings that are more able to cope with these extreme weather conditions? Not in terms of cutting carbon (though that’s essential), but in practical terms - like redesigning guttering to cope with heavy storms; less use of hard landscaping, so that heavy rain can drain away easily; or a re-think of the Brits’ beloved pitched, tiled roof in favour of something less prone to storm damage and summer over-heating...

Some industry insiders are already predicting the demise of air-conditioned offices, which will likely fall foul of the forthcoming EU Energy Performance of Buildings standards. Other building sectors will be affected too, but so far there’s not enough evidence of any radical re-think of “traditional” urban design.

I remember in the early 1970s being taken on a detour to drive past a new house on the outskirts of a major city to marvel at a curious “Spanish hacienda-style” dwelling. With its white-washed walls, flat roofs and shaded veranda, it seemed totally out of place among the suburban Victoria semis. But if we are going to have a more mediterranean climate, then don’t we need more mediterranean-style buildings? And that goes for public buildings, and shopping and commercial centres too.

We’re always chatting about the weather, aren’t we? The country seems to grind to a standstill over a few inches of snow, but it only happens once or twice a year, so in planning terms we ignore it. Wetter winters and hotter summers will drag on much longer and are not so much fun as a few days of snow. If we don’t start to think ahead now and take positive action, there’ll be a whole lot more to talk about in the future!

Time to take the lead from the fashionistas, and get some 22nd-Century designs on the drawing board?

Learn more:

	•	Source: www.tyndall.ac.uk.
	•	Source: “The window: a 21st Century Solution” by Thomas Lane, Building, 9 February 2007, pp28-29.