Subverting the Dominant Paradigm - DCAT · Development Center for Appropriate Technology - 2008 To...

Development Center for Appropriate Technology - 2008

Codes, Relocalization and More…September 6, 2008

David Eisenberg, DirectorDevelopment Center for Appropriate Technology

Subverting the Dominant Paradigm


I think we have a smallwindow of opportunity to save

ourselves as a species.

I believe that window is thesize and shape of the

human heart…


Most of the systemswe have created are

far beneath thedignity and

magnificence of thehuman species.

These systemsdenature us.

They override ourfundamental nature

as a caring, creative,nurturing species.


In order to enableour survival we

have to evolve asa species.

This will be the firsttime in history that

evolution takesplace as a

conscious act.


For a dozen years I'vebeen working towards anintention: that if we are todeal responsibly with therisks associated withbuilding and development,we need to be able to seethose risks…fully, clearly,and in context…


Ecological footprint is aconcept based oncarrying capacity. It's away to calculate theamount of productiveland required to supplyresources and absorbwastes from a givenactivity - of an individual,organization,community, nation orpopulation, including theworld population.

Where We Are - Ecological Footprint


There's credibleevidence that if eachperson on Earth usedresources & generated wastesat the rate of the average American,Canadian, or member of the EU wewould need several more Earths tosustain that level of human activity.And that's for Earth's current population.

Our Ecological Footprint, Wackernagel and Rees

The Picture that is Emerging…


The Big Picture - Living Planet Report

Download the Report:http://www.footprintnetwork.org


www.footprintnetwork.org


From the 2006 Living Planet Report

www.footprintnetwork.org


Where We Can Go…


REALITY - We're maintaining our high standard of living byimporting resources, cheap labor and ecological capacityfrom the developing world.

Surplus global ecological capacity no longer exists.

Ecological footprint is increasing in both the developed anddeveloping world and world population is growing.

Buildings account for a majority of this footprint and energyaccounts for much of that.

Where We Are…


Climate change


Don't Trust Scientists?…How About Insurers?


Where We Are - Peak Oil

Source: Dr. Donald Aitken, ISES/ASES World Solar Congress 2005


It may not beScience Fictionbut it surely is aBrave New World!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133668.ece

Excerpted from,and a Sign of"The Times…"

And I didn'thave to makethis up…


There is a large energy component to water,and a large water component to energy…

Not Just Energy - Water and Energy are Linked


Where we are - at a Crossroads


We would provide a lot of information aboutenergy security issues, climate change,ecological footprint, population, impacts ofvarious materials and processes.

It's not hard any more to make the case that wehave a constellation of extremely difficultchallenges facing us and the built environment isa significant part of the problem.

Then we'd talk about how we think about thesethings…

Life After Cheap Energy & a Stable Climate


We can't rely on our past assumptions aboutprogress, technology, risk, standard of living,national security, global security, trade, oreconomics. It is all changing.

Today's energy and climate realities are stunningand stark. We have crucial choices to make andnot much time to make them. We have what weneed to find a safer path forward but to choose it,we have to change our minds and then changeour behaviors…

Life After Cheap Energy & a Stable Climate


We often hear that weneed to think "outside thebox" to deal with ourproblems today.

But it's a process -expand your field of view,get out of the box you're in…into the next bigger box.

Get Out of the Box


A Focus Shifting Template - What's MissingThings you used to think about

Important stuff youdon't yet know

Things you never thought about but should

Linkages to related realms

UnintendedConsequences Delayed impacts

Internalized risks Externalized risks

Internalized benefits

Linkages to unrelated realms

Externalized benefits

Important stuff youknow that isn't true

A Focus Shifting Template - The Usual Stuff

The list of thingsthat always holdyour attention


To get out of boxes requiresknowing if you're working inthe details or the big picture,in the past, present orfuture, and constantlyshifting your focus back andforth.

That helps keep things inperspective and proportion,enabling us to see the thingsas well as the relationshipsbetween them.

See the Details AND the Big Picture…


International Building Code (USA) - 2000 edition

101.3 The purpose of this code is to establishthe minimum requirements to safeguard thepublic health, safety and general welfarethrough structural strength, means of egressfacilities, stability, sanitation, adequate light andventilation, energy conservation, and safety tolife and property from fire and other hazardsattributed to the built environment.

Big Picture in White - Details in Blue

The Purpose of Building Codes


Modern building codes enable us to design andbuild structures that are safe for their occupants,making it seem that we've eliminated or greatlyreduced the risks associated with buildings.

What's Protected and What's at Risk?


We've just moved those risks in space and time:- away from the building site, and- into the future.

What's Protected and What's at Risk?


Big Problems Hidden in Plain View

Looking at buildings throughcodes is like looking througha microscope. The individual,building-related risks fill thefield of view.

But, it's like dealing with riskwith tweezers, while creatingmany orders of magnitudegreater, generalized risk foreveryone, including all futuregenerations.


Fire SafetyStructural IntegrityMeans of EgressLightVentilationHeatWater & WastewaterElectrical & GasEnergy Efficiency

Risks to Future Generations

Risk - The Bigger Picture…

Nutrification of Water

Externalized Costs to Society

Climate Impact Resource Depletion

Pollution Loss of Habitat

Loss of Agricultural Land

Embodied Energy Dependence on Non-Renewable Energy

Loss of BiodiversityToxicity of Materials

Increased TransportationHeat Island Effect

Risk - Through the Microscope of Codes…



Risks to Future Generations

Risk - The Bigger Picture…

Nutrification of Water

Externalized Costs to Society

Climate Impact Resource Depletion

Pollution Loss of Habitat

Loss of Agricultural Land

Embodied Energy Dependence on Non-Renewable Energy

Loss of BiodiversityToxicity of Materials

Increased TransportationHeat Island Effect



English does not contain a suitable word for "systemof problems." Therefore I have had to coin one. Ichoose to call such a system a "mess." The solutionto a mess can seldom be obtained by independentlysolving each of the problems of which it iscomposed. - Russell L. Ackoff

Or, more simply put…Optimizing components in isolation tends topessimize the whole system.

- Paul Hawken, Amory & L. Hunter Lovins

Buildings are Complex Systems of Systems


Building codes typically optimize components of abuilding in isolation, often pessimizing both thebuilding and the systems to which it's connected.

To truly optimize buildings requires consideringthe whole system of systems. All technologiesneed to be viewed this way, to include their wholerisk/benefit profile.

How to Not Pessimize the System?


What Buildings Should and Shouldn't Do…

Building codes could be a set of principles for whatbuildings should and shouldn't do…

A good first principle would be a corollary of theHippocratic Oath; buildings should first do no harm.

To consider the harm a building might do requireslooking at the impacts from its entire lifecycle…


Acquisition of Resources through Demolition & Beyond


What?Where?To Whom?When?How?How Long?How Much?Reversible?Necessary?At What Costand to Whom?We can't get where we need to be by avoiding risk…

We Need to Ask New Questions about Risk


We have to acknowledge that there are risks in allthat we do. Until we can see the whole risk profile,however, we will not be able to make gooddecisions about which risks are worth taking.

Our task is to keep revealing what we now know istrue, not claiming that what we do is risk-free. Weneed to make clear that we've recognized a muchlarger set of risks than the regulators and we'retrying to address them as well as their concerns.

The Task Before Us…


We need to recognize and address the greatmodern myth - that we know what we're doingand are in control. We don't and we're not…

The Great Modern Myth


We could have theintention of minimizingunintended consequencesand make that part of ourdecision-making process.

Addressing the Great Modern Myth


Thinking deeply about ourchoices of materials andsystems might lead us todevelop a preference fordoing things as locally aspossible, as simply aspossible, and doing aslittle as possible of thosethings that we know areharmful or about whichour knowledge andunderstanding is limited.

Addressing the Great Modern Myth


Appropriate technology - the lowest or simplestlevel of technology that can do the job well.

Appropriateness relates to where and for whatpurpose technology is used and the social,economic, and ecological context.

Truly appropriate technology doesn't make peopleor their communities dependent on systems overwhich they have no control. This meanstechnologies that enhance the local capacity tomeet local needs - in a lower energy world this isthe foundation for security and sustainablecommunities.

A Place to Start


Doing things locally is important for manyreasons, but first and foremost, the feedbackloops are shorter and much higher quality.You're much more likely to run into theunintended consequences of your actions.

Relocalization


If security is a goal, strengthening regional andlocal self-sufficiency is an essential strategy for usand for everyone else, everywhere else.Enhancing the local capacity of people and theircommunities to meet their own needs, also:

- shortens vulnerable supply lines - creates more robust & resilient supply systems - supports vital, durable local economies, and - supports healthy cultural, political, and social structures

Relocalization


When we don't have inexpensive, abundantenergy to drag materials around the world,process them as much as we imagine we need to,and then drag them around some more, it willbecome crucial that we learn, once again, how touse well those resources that are available to uswhere we live…

The rules and the way we think about risk andbenefit will have to change - to become morenuanced, more inclusive, and more responsive.

Relocalization


The relocalization movement is a key part of theshift toward sustainable development and truesecurity. This includes energy, materials, food,economic development and more. Check out thesewebsites for more information:

www.relocalize.net

www.postcarbon.org/informed/relocalization

Some Tools and Resources


And We Keep Asking Questions…

Why do all our systems appear to be designed tomake the world safe for technology and capital?


Making the World Safe for Technology?

What if we understood that our task as humanbeings on this planet is to make the world safefor all life forever…


Some Questions We Should Be Asking

Does this choice or action:enhance or undermine your capacity to meet yourneeds locally/regionally?create benefit without making you dependent onsystems over which you have little or no control?transfer wealth out of the community?embed you and others in your community ordisplace or compel people to become transient?


Does this choice or action:enhance or destroy equity - both the social andcultural equity related to fairness and justice, andthe tangible physical/economic benefits ofbelonging to and being "invested in" a place-based community?promote or undermine health - your health, thehealth of your family, your neighbors, yourcommunity, region, nation and the health ofpeople and living systems anywhere in the world?



Does this choice or action:increase or decrease the level of unintendedconsequences flowing from what you are doing?increase or decrease your awareness,comprehension and ability to mitigate theunintended consequences of what you are doing?bring people together or drive them apart?



Does this choice or action:cause offense, concern, or harm?bring joy and/or satisfaction to you and toeveryone effected by it?



The Larger Context

Source: SERA Architects, Portland, OR - 2008


This is a Trajectory not a Target


Truly restorative and regenerative projects demanda fundamentally different mindset; a commitment tohonor the essence of each place we inhabit and toenhance the evolutionary capacity, vitality andhealth of both the natural and human systems.


Harvests all its own energy and water

Adapted to climate and site

Operates pollution free

Promotes health and well-being

Comprised of Integrated Systems

Is Beautiful

www.cascadiagbc.org/lbc

The metaphor of the flower…

The Living Building


www.biomimicry.net/

Why Not Look at How We Got Here?


And Remember -

Subverting the Dominant Paradigm - DCAT · Development Center for Appropriate Technology - 2008 To...

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