|
Post by CRCP on Nov 30, 2007 10:37:05 GMT -5
Member's posts follow:
|
|
|
Post by John Zeger on Nov 30, 2007 10:42:51 GMT -5
I’m not very impressed with some of the measures proposed by the B.C. Government to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions as part of the new B.C. Building Code (“Building goes green,” Daily Courier, Nov. 28), at least not as they apply to highrise buildings. When one considers that a typical highrise unit consumes one-third more energy than does the average single family home, according to CMHC, then reducing the carbon emissions associated with highrises by 33% as proposed really doesn’t put us any further ahead. In fact with the B.C. Government’s push to increase densities, building more highrises will only result in a further increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
If the B.C. Government were really serious about reducing energy demand and its environmental spillovers, it would ban the construction of highrises altogether. Noted architect Sue Roaf addresses this issue in her recent book, Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change, where she labels tall buildings as a “dead end” on the path to sustainability. In this timely volume, Roaf argues that high energy-consuming buildings like highrises are not conducive to building sustainable settlements and that buildings should not exceed between six and eight storeys.
|
|