The Future of Society & Infrastructure

This week in Sustainability, we discussed the energy needed to power our homes, buildings, and cities. David MacKay’s “Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air” is revealing, chapter by chapter, how much energy is wasted in each area of modern, urban infrastructure and the most effective ways of solving our unsustainable energy demands. We over-consume and waste so much energy it is not even funny. There are so many small and big changes we could be doing that would lower our existing energy requirements and then change the remaining energy to clean energy. I have recently started emailing my family the link to MacKay’s website. MacKay’s book is free, it is important and I believe every modernized American should read this. 

We also watched the documentary “Deep Green”. I really enjoyed the parts in the movie that focused on Portland. Watching scenes of our city featured in a documentary on sustainability is expected but always heartwarming. I was pleasantly surprised to learn of the lessened energy demands by the OHSU building down on the waterfront. I was unaware of their LEED Platinum achievement. Towards the end of the segment featuring this building, the documentary narrator said something around the lines of “We need to stop seeing buildings as independent energy suckers but as a part of a network of buildings and people”. This concept really stuck to my brain. It got me thinking about cities and the future of green infrastructure.

We need to radically reduce the energy demands of every building and person. Science and technology will help us create solutions that lessen our energy demands. The thousands of already existing buildings and homes need to be retrofitted so their energy demands are cut by 3/4. For future buildings, there should be some serious energy standards that they are held to strictly so that off the bat, new buildings are consuming less and impacting less. What happens next is that we start putting solar energy collection systems and wind energy collection systems on roofs, outside, walls, and any structure that is vacant and available for energy collection. Once there is energy flowing everywhere, then we can just have free energy that connects everywhere. The next phase is reducing the amount of transportation vehicles that run on fossil fuels. Let’s embrace bicycles, public transportation, and electric vehicles like never before (electric vehicles will pay for their own energy). Finally, let’s transform any unused flat, horizontal area into greenery and tree space. Luckily Portland probably won’t deal with the projected flooding that is heading for New York and Miami, but every city should change its building energy demands, transportation style, and its relation to nature to mitigate and adapt to our changing climate. I am hopeful and optimistic for the future of cities. I will use my hands and voice to make cities greener everywhere.