hdoor Environment and sustainable development
Toward a more ascetic way of living
G. Blachiire,
Abstract
AUXIRBat,
France
:
The problem
of a building
compatible
with sustainable
development involves the adequation of four factors :
The increase of the world human population
The increasing level of comfort
The consumption of resources to achieve this level
The disponibility of these resources on Earth
Until today almost all the efforts to solve the problem have been
concentrated
on the third factor.
It is rational to examine the possiblity to act on the others.
Here it is proposed to examine the possibility to lessen the level
of comfort in buildings. Indoor temperature has been legally lowered
in the 70s.
People lived in less comfortable situations in the past centuries.
Is it a step-back today feasable?
A.
Al
Generals
Man is a factor of concern to the future of this planet. Are
wk conscious really that he rivals with large volcanos in the matter
of atmospheric pollution and has no rival at all for water pollution
and natural products’ consumption ?
His action is growing worst for two facts :
- its multiplication,
- the increase in the level of his comfort and commodities
requirements.
The consequences of these two facts are :
- increase in pollution of all kinds, arithmatically speaking two billion people pollute twice as much as one billion,
- increase in consumption of building materials largerly based on
natural resources,
- increase in the energy used to exploit buildings.
A2
The multiplication of men is frequently evocated - and its
a&litude
discussed.
An optimistic view is that this expansion will stop in some
decennies after the %doubling of the population. In reality nobody
knows, and some prudent (and. exposed) countries have taken
measures, with more or tess tuck.
This point will not be dealt with further here.
But. the- other point : the increase in building comfort and
commodities has practicatly never been deatt with.
Nevertheless, it is a realty important point :
From a rough approach we can con&de
that : of the actual
population a tenth only enjoy the tevet of comfort and commodities
we know in the middle class of the affluent countries, half of the
rest consumes hatf of this tevet, and the rest-a fifth.
Thus if the world population doubles and if it should reach the
bevel -of standard of living of the affluent countries, the consumption
wilt be muttiptied by five.
A3
This rise in consumption
concerns energy as well as
building products.
The tast mobi-tises enormous quantities
of
products and wastes - in construction, exploitation and demolition.
A consequence of att that is that, if reasonable, ,we should think
over the probtem under this form : What standard,of comfort and
commodities’ level is compatible, on Earth, with the sustainable
devetopment ?
And if you write levels in place of level, imagine the .probtems.
ES, The standard of life level of the human beings in. their
habitation
- Its evolution
B.1 tn the affluent countries, the housing energy consumption
consists in :
- Heating in cotd seansons, air conditionning in hot seasons
.- Using sanitary, hot water
- Cooking
- Lighting without restrictions nor savings
- Using home and offices equipments.
The’ sum gives energy expenses of about
(Equivatent oil ton) per home.
a yearly 2 Tep
As for the volume (of constructions; the UN-ECE,.Compendium of
Model Provisions for Building Codes set .a minimum area of 12 to 14
m2 of living space per inhabitant.
And the votume of housing construction in a country is roughly
equal to that of constructions of other types.
The
move
towards
more
comfort
is
natural.
9
fhus in France since the beginning of the century, the duration of
the heating period passed from 4 months to 5 in 1950 to 8 months ~
today.
One room and the .kitchen were heated, Today ‘we enjoy centrat
-heating.
And the “ctim” (air conditionning)
is invading every type of
.buildings.
The home and office equipments rised from zero to bat1we enjoy
today.
Etc. etc.
And peopte certainly appreciate atl this progress.
But it is continuing :
A demand for more heat comfort doesn’t reatty exist, but new
building equipments are appearing which, in general, people accept
and which power distributors and manufacturers push for. And, as a
j
common law, no brake exists.
On another hand, less rich people in tess rich countries
ambitionnate
to reach the level of comfort
standards of the
affluents.
A question is clearly evident :
Are the moves toward more comfort in the rich countries,
and the move of the less rich or poors toward the level of the
rich,
are these ‘moves compatible with the sustainable ,development ?
To answer this question requires :
- Forecastings
about volume of populations
and tevel of
consumptions tinked to the living comfort (but it is atways difficult
to forecast, especialty the future...)
Estimating the tevet of future energy resources, the mass of
natural resources man can exploite without
endangering the
sustainable development.
But is the concern justified ?
The optimists wilt say : “The increase in population will stop
spon-taneousty, man will develop new energy sources, non polluting
and unlimited, like nuclear fusion or cover the deserts with solar
collectors. And alt is good - Maybe, maybe not.
It is not reasonable to, at teast, study what could be done to face
the difficulties, if and when necessary.
In short, to study how and how far, by the means to reduce
consumptions to catch a given tevel of comfort, it is possible to
lessen the Wet of comfort, itself. td est to live in a more ascetic
way than today in affluent countries.
C.
Thinking over the problems
Three ways of lowering the standard of living exist :
Coercision
Conviction
Cost correlations, which in fact back stop the two first.
Advanced countries have lived since the 1970s an episode of such
lowering :
These countries have been Confronted with the necessity, for
national economic reasons, to lower their oil consumption. They
imposed to lower the winter heating reference operative temperature
of 20°C to 19’C. The economy was remarquabte : in France about O,2
Tep per home.
The measure was accepted (which does not mean respected)
because people faced.a private economic problem. So they accepted to
wear a sweater at home, to cut down the heating bilL
But other measures could not be as easily accepted :
The necessary restrictions
of air ConditiQnning will face the
opposition of the building occupants, of the air Conditionning
industry, and of the power distributors.
TQ overcome the-obstacle it seems to be necessary to sensitite
the people to the problems of sustainable development, to use a lot
of coercition, probabty under the form of taxations. That people and
governments take unpleasant measures for the sake of solving
problems of cami-ng generations lies in the field of V’rtt?tNe...
What, could be. envisaged is a study to find the possible
restrictions in comfort :
room temperatures, warm water consumption, dimensions Qf
the rooms, etc. and to disseminate a guide for people concerned with
sustainable devetopment.
- to examine the best way - under the form of regulatory
obligations, or tax actions, to enforce the corresponding measures.