Green houses to combat greenhouse (gases)
Today we explore the intersection of climate change and buildings
Hope you missed Anticlimatic last Sunday because it did miss you, quite literally. Apologies for that. Last week to last week, I pushed myself to the edge and planned things abysmally. Hence, the missed post. No excuses.
However, two great things happened that week -
1/ First ever podcast - chatted with a sustainable menstrual hygiene brand, Saathi, talking about single use plastics. Watch it here.
2/ Largest Climate Party yet - hosted my 4th Climate Party in Delhi which witnessed vast variety of individuals from the Climate space - founders, investors, policymakers, thinktank folks, students, ESG consultants, urban planners and many more. To know more, read here.
Explain like I’m a memer
As you arrive in a new city, what is the first thing that you notice and wonder about?
Write in your answer in the comments or via e-mail. I’ll publish the most interesting ones next week.
For me, it’s the buildings that I marvel at first.
Be it getting caught in the awe of architectural and lighting design of Burj Khalifa in Dubai or engineering of the Manhattan Bridge in NYC or entertainment avenues at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, it’s always been about appreciating only what my eyes could see, i.e., the outer shells. Did any of these buildings ever make me wonder about the concrete, steel, sand, glass, and other material that went inside? Did I ever think of the careful designs of air conditioning, water movement and sewage channels on the inside? Probably not. I mostly took all of that for granted.
These underrated ingredients of our built environment1 have emerged to be an important piece in our climate change opportunity. They wield the power to shape the cityscapes of the future.
Let’s figure out how.
What even are buildings*?
*For ease of understanding, I am, hereon, using ‘buildings’ to refer to ‘the built environment’ in this piece.
Buildings, as we see, are horizontal or vertical structures, above or below the ground. However, they are multi-layered, complex systems within themselves. Exactly like a car. Open the bonnet and you’ll feel lost in the woods.
At a macro level, the following two things create a habitable building:
#1: Raw material used to construct a functional structure and its embellishments - sand, steel, cement, glass, marble, copper, etc.;
#2: Energy and water consumed to keep the building up and running - heating, cooling, lighting, washing, cooking etc.
What makes buildings relevant to the climate change discussion?
Buildings emit ~38% of the global GHG emissions of which
~10% is from production of the construction material; and
remaining comes from production of energy consumed by these buildings and other building operations2.
Enough to establish that buildings are energy-guzzlers. Reminds me of peak Delhi summer months (~40C) when I was forced to wear a sweater because it was too cold inside my office 😵💫.
Shelter is our basic need. Until we get eliminated from this planet, we need buildings to thrive. However, as we’ve rapidly advanced through the century, urbanization has become our best friend which has driven us to an urban heat island effect. This effect causes the urban areas (less greenery), i.e. ‘developed’ cities to be much hotter than the neigbouring rural areas (more greenery) as the large concrete cover absorbs more solar energy which radiates as heat keeping the city warm long after sunset. Further, waste heat from engines and other energy-consuming equipment in transportation, industry and space cooling make cities even hotter3. Owing to a less dense tree cover, the natural air conditioning provided by plants also becomes feeble.
The relevance of this effect particulary amplifies during heat waves which are gradually becoming a new normal across continents. If you’re thinking ACs to the rescue, rethink.
ACs, like buildings, are energy-guzzlers. So while they cool your body down inside the building, they create more heat on the outside only to add to the problem. Try standing next to an AC’s external unit and you will practically feel the heat.
Trivia: If air conditioners were provided to all those who need them, not just those who can afford them, there would be 14 billion cooling appliances in use by 20504. Dizzying emissions!
With this information, a habitable building, now, also needs to be resilient to the changing climate which makes a third factor important in its creation -
#3: Ability to retrofit the building to adapt to changing climate
What are the solutions?
Overall, buildings need to be viewed as entities which also require net-zero carbon ambitions to help with the global temperature targets. To make that happen, energy efficiency of buildings will be key - no more sweaters in summers! The visual below from International Energy Agency helps picture the north-star for an energy efficient building.
Trivia: In 2021, Google’s global data centers consumed ~4.3 billion gallons of water for cooling the machines. This is comparable to the water needed to irrigate and maintain 29 golf courses in the southwest U.S. each year5.
Given that buildings are here to stay and flourish to accommodate the ever increasing human population, they offer great change adaptation mechanisms, if designed well. Apart from making buildings energy efficiency, the construction industry requires an overhaul by figuring alternative low-carbon material and ways of reducing emissions of traditional materials.
Recently, researchers at Purdue University created the ‘whitest paint in the world’ which can reflect 98.1% of sunlight. This means, if painted on the roofs / facades of buildings, exteriors of outdoor electricity systems or any vehicle, it can avoid absorption of heat by the base material. Read more about this innovation here. An Indian startup, Carboncraft, has developed tiles which use recovered carbon waste as a building material, hence preventing its burning. For more construction material innovations, read here. Similarly, help is being sought from nature by integrating vertical forests with buildings (see image below) to increase plant cover in urban areas. Some buildings are embracing a biophilic design to bring occupants closer to nature through focus on natural air flow, ventilation, landscaping features and incorporating other natural elements.
To help mobilize these solutions, countries have also developed green building rating systems which certify buildings with a ‘green’ signaling status (just like Ivy League universities) based on a set of criteria rating the design, construction, operations, energy consumption, and indoor environmental quality of the building, among other things. LEED is the most widely used rating system in the world. You may have come across plaques on certain building entrances which royally flaunt their LEED Platinum or LEED Gold status.
What’s interesting about India is the fact that there is an interplay of three different rating systems - LEED, IGBC and GRIHA - as opposed to one rating system usually found in other countries. Until recently, these rating systems did not factor in carbon emissions as a direct criterion, however, the same is in the process of being incorporated as the importance of this measure rises.
Just as remote work sparked the reshaping of the future of work, climate change is set to redefine the future of our habitation. Exciting times ahead!
Additional interesting reads / watch:
The current energy cost of your conversations with ChatGPT will leave you baffled
How cities across the world are using nature to beat the heat
Practical guide to climate resilient buildings
Any human-made structure, feature or facility viewed collectively which affects life
Hey Seyesha ! Delighted to read your piece ! One of the reasons I started my own substack was mental fatigue induced by sifting through the mass of doom posts pouring in, searching for the GOOD NEWS on Positive Climate Action. Many thanks indeed. Peace; Maurice
Yup, I sold my trucks, bought a trike. Nowadays I'm Digging for veg instead of oil and thereby finding lots of opportunities, to Heal Our World. Peace, Maurice