Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change
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Review
'A timely and fascinating book on the crucial issue of energy use in buildings which accounts for half of our total energy use.'
Stephen Tindale, Executive Director, Greenpeace, UK
'We are at the crossroads of the most significant crisis of modern times. Two profound, life changing events are converging to create this crisis - the warming of the earth's atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, and the rapid depletion of global petroleum and natural gas reserves. As these events intensify over the coming years, they will dramatically change how we live and how we relate to the natural world. These changes can cause the human race great pain and suffering or they can inspire a historic transition to a kinder and gentler world.
Sue Roaf, David Crichton and Fergus Nicol in their new book Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change, dissect these events and rightly conclude that at the center of this crisis stands the architecture and building community. They clearly illustrate that this community, unknowingly, is chiefly responsible for precipitating this crisis and argue for nothing less than a building design revolution to address the problem.
What makes this book so important is that it not only outlines the issues and science behind climate change, but details the steps necessary to alleviate future large scale dislocations and hardship. Ms. Roaf identifies the key players in this struggle, their roles, and the actions needed to spark this revolution. She makes it crystal clear that there is no technological fix looming on the horizon, and that if the architecture and building community do not step forward and lead, there is little hope for meaningful change to take place. This book contains the framework for beginning the critical dialogue necessary to confront humanity's greatest challenge.'
SBSE journal
Stephen Tindale, Executive Director, Greenpeace, UK
'We are at the crossroads of the most significant crisis of modern times. Two profound, life changing events are converging to create this crisis - the warming of the earth's atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, and the rapid depletion of global petroleum and natural gas reserves. As these events intensify over the coming years, they will dramatically change how we live and how we relate to the natural world. These changes can cause the human race great pain and suffering or they can inspire a historic transition to a kinder and gentler world.
Sue Roaf, David Crichton and Fergus Nicol in their new book Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change, dissect these events and rightly conclude that at the center of this crisis stands the architecture and building community. They clearly illustrate that this community, unknowingly, is chiefly responsible for precipitating this crisis and argue for nothing less than a building design revolution to address the problem.
What makes this book so important is that it not only outlines the issues and science behind climate change, but details the steps necessary to alleviate future large scale dislocations and hardship. Ms. Roaf identifies the key players in this struggle, their roles, and the actions needed to spark this revolution. She makes it crystal clear that there is no technological fix looming on the horizon, and that if the architecture and building community do not step forward and lead, there is little hope for meaningful change to take place. This book contains the framework for beginning the critical dialogue necessary to confront humanity's greatest challenge.'
SBSE journal
Product Description
From the author of the bestseller 'Ecohouse' this challenging and exciting text gives you an insight into the real changes that are necessary to give our modern day built environment both 'sustainability' and 'survivability'.
The book is based on the premise that climate change is going to happen and its impacts on our lives are going to be far worse than generally expected. Sue Roaf argues that many modern buildings are not only 'unsustainable' in themselves but are also having a catastrophic effect on the global climate. In a unique argument, she illustrates that the only way we can hope to survive the following century in tact is if we not only begin to radically reduce CO2 emissions from our buildings and stop building climatically disastrous building types but also build only the buildings that can survive in the changed climates of the future.
Throughout the book, traditional and modern building types are used to: explain the history and impacts of climates past, present and future on buildings; set the scene in terms of the history of building development of where we are now and where we are going in terms of sustainability and survivability of buildings; develop two main scenarios of future building development with the 'business as usual' model and the 'survival plan' model, and to make a list of recommendations based on the two scenarios of what actions should be taken by architects, planners and engineers as well as local and national governments, businesses and ordinary people in ensuring the true sustainable nature of the built environment.
· A unique text that reassesses the fundamentals of sustainable design
· A discussion and design guide providing you with the full picture of true sustainability
· Includes case studies supporting the argument that challenges orthodox architectural design
The book is based on the premise that climate change is going to happen and its impacts on our lives are going to be far worse than generally expected. Sue Roaf argues that many modern buildings are not only 'unsustainable' in themselves but are also having a catastrophic effect on the global climate. In a unique argument, she illustrates that the only way we can hope to survive the following century in tact is if we not only begin to radically reduce CO2 emissions from our buildings and stop building climatically disastrous building types but also build only the buildings that can survive in the changed climates of the future.
Throughout the book, traditional and modern building types are used to: explain the history and impacts of climates past, present and future on buildings; set the scene in terms of the history of building development of where we are now and where we are going in terms of sustainability and survivability of buildings; develop two main scenarios of future building development with the 'business as usual' model and the 'survival plan' model, and to make a list of recommendations based on the two scenarios of what actions should be taken by architects, planners and engineers as well as local and national governments, businesses and ordinary people in ensuring the true sustainable nature of the built environment.
· A unique text that reassesses the fundamentals of sustainable design
· A discussion and design guide providing you with the full picture of true sustainability
· Includes case studies supporting the argument that challenges orthodox architectural design
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The war against climate change pitches mankind against a global threat that vastly eclipses that of terrorism, in battles that have already claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary men and women from every continent. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The war against climate change pitches mankind against a global threat that vastly eclipses that of terrorism, in battles that have already claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary men and women from every continent. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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3 reviews
Essential read
19 Dec 2010
Format:Paperback
This is the 2nd edition of a volume first published in 2005, which itself was one of the early books on an all important 21st century topic. The 2nd edition provides important updates in a rapidly emerging set of studies and recommendations to respond to and prepare for climate change. The risks of climate change are presented in a series of chapters, with full citation and references, with titles such as "How Hot Will It Get" and "How Wet Will It Get," each presenting summaries and citations from the science literature. The authors are wise enough to not only describe risk, but also to describe practical and realizable actions that can be taken to reduce climate risks, particularly related to buildings, communities and city building. There is a critique of "modern buildings" and description of proven techniques to use renewable energies in building and urban design. Concluding Chapters focus upon strategies and targets for action, in which all of us should be engaged. The book's broad brush makes the case for comprehensive approaches to design for mitigation and adaption realizable through the built environment. The emphasis on the physical environment makes this especially valuable as a text for teaching and practicing architecture and related physical planning professionals.
Planners and architects see the heat turned up and respond
4 April 2007
Format:Paperback
Every American planning professional or aspiring city planner should include this book in their personal library. Besides the fight against standard American-style sprawl, planners are going to have to take the long view (it's why they're hired!) when designing buildings, cities, energy supplies, and transport systems in a much warmer world. This book is a start. In my opinion, any school that fails to include plannning aspects of climate change in its curriculum is derelict.
As you can see from my other book reviews I harp on the need to examine nuclear energy as an option for our quickly urbanizing world. Besides good coverage of alternative energy for buildings and cities, the authors mention the aging UK nuke plants, the problem of relying on French nuclear power during the last heat wave, and other issues, including Sweden's policy reversal on shutting down its nuclear program. But this assessment on p 278 stood out for me:
"However with the approaching oil crisis the UK govt may well have to review this (nuclear) policy. It is difficult to see how we will cope without nuclear power."
Whether the UK will modernize its nuclear infrastructure is another matter.
As you can see from my other book reviews I harp on the need to examine nuclear energy as an option for our quickly urbanizing world. Besides good coverage of alternative energy for buildings and cities, the authors mention the aging UK nuke plants, the problem of relying on French nuclear power during the last heat wave, and other issues, including Sweden's policy reversal on shutting down its nuclear program. But this assessment on p 278 stood out for me:
"However with the approaching oil crisis the UK govt may well have to review this (nuclear) policy. It is difficult to see how we will cope without nuclear power."
Whether the UK will modernize its nuclear infrastructure is another matter.
A vitally important subject comprehensively introduced.
2 April 2005
Format:Paperback
How will we live when the oil runs out? How will we live when the climate is even hotter, with more floods, high winds, droughts? What kinds of buildings will be livable? How can we change what we build now to better serve humankind? Sue Roaf and co-authors argue that we won't be able to do it in "thin-skinned", windowless twentieth century buildings of glass and steel that keep out neither cold nor heat and require tremendous energy resources just to be usable. This is a great book about the many ways in which we need to and can change our thinking--particularly in architecture, in which a slavish adulation of "maestro-built," difficult-to-use buildings must be abandoned for a commitment to buildings and communities that will protect, preserve and comfort us in the resource-scarce times ahead.
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