Category Archives: Uncategorized

Environmentally Conscious Buildings

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A huge portion of our energy use comes from buildings and transport, which according to my figures from 2008, take up some 60%-70% of energy use.

Buildings is one huge energy expense. Most of the energy goes towards heating or cooling the building interior to a comfortable level. Of course well insulated buildings and buildings with features to prevent the incoming sunlight from heating up the interior are all good features to have.

In my earlier days researching this topic, I thought that all glass and steel buildings were energy hogs, since glass a a famous green-house building material. Many vegetable and horticultural gardens use this concept.

When one applies this concept to the many commercial shopping centers and buildings in Singapore, one is appalled at the huge energy expense used to air-condition them.

Fortunately is possible to have a steel-and-glass building, airconditioning and be green. The Zero-Energy building in Singapore is one such case.

There is another building though that I am concerned about and it is the main National Library.

In my digging around, I managed to find this website which describes the architecture and design of this building. From this site, we learn that -

The building, designed by T.R. Hamzah and Yeang, has a host of environmentally friendly features. Oriented away from the East-West direction, it keeps cool with sunshades, external louvres and a roof canopy.

Natural ventilation zones such as garden terraces and the ground-floor open-air plaza invite the breeze in.

Inside the building, the energy-saving features are impressive: Escalators are activated by motion sensors, and blinds on West-facing windows come down automatically in the afternoons to shield against the setting sun.

For all its green features, the National Library Building was conferred the platinum Green Mark Award in 2005. This is the highest badge of honour for environmentally-friendly buildings from Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority.

Here is another site on the energy saving features of the building.

There was also a book published which details the green-energy saving features of the National Library. The 205 page book title is “Redefining the library : the National Library of Singapore”, the publisher is GK Consultancy in 2008. You can find it in the Library itself, detailing all the energy saving features of the building.

Whatever it is, I feel assured that the National Library Building is amongst one of the energy-saving buildings in Singapore worth saving.

Why waste the apocalypse?

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Yes, it is the beginning of the last year of recorded history. The Mayan calendar is running out in December 21, 2012 of this year. It’s the end of the world! Let’s party and go down with the Titanic!

Now this is a message going to all the skeptics out there. Of course this is not true. Of course, when the calendar runs out, you get a new calendar. What end of the world? Lots of people are going to end up looking like idiots without their clothes when the sun comes up in January 1, 2013. You are not one of those people.

But you know, this kind of opportunity presents itself only once in a life. You know the lifestyle you are living is unsustainable. You know the economy is fracturing, that we are not in some secular cycle. You know it is different this time.

So make use of the madness! While those folks are getting their crates of chardonnay and party-hats, you are getting freshwater, first-aid kits and your finances in order. Be a “believer”. Instead of curmudgeonly protesting that the end of the world ain’t comin’, go ahead and make those necessary changes to your life.

Because when this is over, some people will be idiots. Those idiots will be those that partied, and those that hid away in protest. You are neither of this, and you will emerge victorious.

Don’t waste the apocalypse!

The future is not future-proof

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So I have been attending some recent conferences on sustainability. The word du jour is “future-proofing”, as applied to buildings, one’s business, the economy, health, the environment or whatever the concern may be.

This idea, “future-proofing” had me scratching my head in bewilderment. What could it possibly mean?

If one says one’s safe is “fire-proof”, one means that in the event of an fire that burns down one’s house, the safe would be protected from damage. “Fire” is the damage agent and “proof” is the claim against it’s effects.

If you said your watch was “water-proof”, you mean that the continued functioning of your watch will not be affected when it comes into contact with water. So as not to make too much guarantees, some watches are called “water-resistant”, just in case the touted proof is not perfect. This idea: “resistant” is revealing of what “future-proof” is trying to convey.

So a good first guess at what “future-proof” is meant to convey the methods and techniques designed to insulate us the bad effects of the future.

There are quite a few flaws in this understanding. Why should one be insulated against the future? The sort of person who needs to do that is a fearful individual who hates change. The effort going to resisting the future is a inherently futile endeavour, destined to fail.

I can hear you objection. One future proofs to avoid the bad effects of the future. Good effects are welcome!

But this understanding reveals a flaw. The future, unpredictable and unknowable, will carry good and bad effects to us. “Good” and “bad” is a value judgement in the rear-view mirror. In the front view mirror, everything – good and bad – is coming at you, out to get you with a great big stick. 赛翁失马，炎知非幅！

So future-proofing runs the risk that we will avoid that which could be good for us, had we but patience to wait for what the future holds. It will take some time, but who says the future only comes quickly?

Because we don’t just anticipate the future to fear the untoward effects, we also want to welcome the new, the strange, which may turn out to be good!

The future is not future-proof, because it is not proven!