Environment and pollution Climate Change The climate of the earth has changed costantly throughout history. The Earth’s climate has been relatively stable since about 10000 years ago but is now changing. A rapid change in climate could upset the Earth’s balance and seriously endanger many living things. If the Earth continues to warm up there will be a lot of consequences for people, plants and animals. Global Warming The Global Warming is an avarage increase in the Earth’s temperature wich causes climate change. The green house effect is a naturally occurring process that aids in heating the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. Without the greenhouse gases the Earth would be warmer. The human activities accelerate and distort the natural process of green house and there is a problem. Human activities create more green house gases in the atmosphere. The effects of Climate Change are: Rise of sea levels [glaciers and sea ice will slowly melt, this cause the rise of sea levels wich consequences could be catastrophic] Hotter and drier climates with an increase of desertification and femines could be become more common Extintion of animals and plants Hurricanes and tornadoes wich causes flooding and mudslides, hurricane requires ocean water temperature of 26° C or higher to generate the rising. Acid Rain The rain can be considerate acid when the PH of the rain goes below 5.6 while the netural PH is 7. Acid Rain is a chemical reaction between sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Human activities are the main cause of acid rain (power plants, cars ecc.) For example power plants burn fossil fuels such as coal. The older statues especially made of marble are vulnerable to acid rain. Acid rain cause to human health breathing problems and rain it’s harmful for the environment. Pollution Pollution is the addition of any substance or from of energy to the environment at a speed faster than the environment can dispose of it. Water Pollution We can talk of water pollution when one or more substances have accumulated in water. Surface water are lakes, oceans and rivers while ground water is the water underground like acquifers. The main cause of water pollution are: Sewage - that contains all kinds of other chemicals such as pharmaceutical drugs, plastic, ecc. Waste Water – for washing machines and dishwashers end up in rivers and oceans or pesticides Oil Pollution – most pollution at sea comes from routine shipping and from oil people pour ES. down drains Plastics – that is the most common substance that washes up with the waves. A plastic bottle can survive 450 years in the ocean. Plastic can strangle or choke fish Other forms of pollution like factories and power plants. Air Pollution Around two million people die from the effects of polluted air every year. Air pollution is a huge problem. Air pollution is a gas released in a quantity big enough to harm the health of people, plants and animals. Some kinds of air pollution are produced naturally like forest fire and erupting volcanoes. The causes of air pollution are traffic, power plants, factories, cars ecc. Traffic is the main cause of air pollution in urban areas. Smog is the combination of the words smoke and fog. One of the most harmful constituents of smoke is ozone. Soil Pollution Soil Pollution it’s the pollution of soil with materials that are present at concentrations higher than normal. There are 2 differents ideas: Some considere the use of the pesticides accettable while other no. The main causes of soil pollution are pesticides and herbicides and other are oil dump, landfills and industrial waste. Soil pollution disturbe the ecological balance of the nature. Renewable energy Energy Energy is an essential component of any society playing a major role in its development. There are two types of sources of energy in the world: renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Renewable energy includes solar energy, biomass energy, wind energy, tidal energy, hydro energy and geothermal energy; non-renewable energy includes oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear energy. The advantage of renewable energy is that they are in abundance and are completely free of charge; more over renewable energy sources have very low or zero carbon emission so they are environmentally friendly. The disadvantage is that their starting costs can be astronomical. They cannot be installed wherever and sometimes they cause visual or noise pollution. Wind Power Wind is the movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. Today more and more people are using wind turbines to wrong electricity from the breeze. Most wind energy comes from turbines that can be as tall as 110 m and have three 35-metre-long blades. The wind spins the blades wich turn a shaft connected to a generator that produces electricity. Wind is a clean source of renewable energy that produces no air or water pollution. Once a turbine is erected the operational costs are nearly zero. The disadvantage could be the visual and noise pollution that wind turbines cause. Solar Energy Solar Energy is an inexhaustible fuel sorce, that is pollution and noise free. But solar energy doesn’t work at night without a storage device and cloudy weather can make the technology unreliable during the day. Solar technologies are also very expensive and require a lot of land area to collect the energy. Solar energy technology is used to harness the sun’s energy and make it useable. The difference between active and passive solar system Are that passive solar system don’t use mechanical devices and they are Green Houses, sunrooms and solariums. Passive solar system can also rely on south-facing windows as collectors to capture solar energy. Active solar system use machanical devices to collect, store and convert solar energy. Geothermal Energy Geothermal Energy it’s the energy derived from the Earth’s internal heat. This energy it’s used to cooking and heating systems The most important geothermal sites in Italy are Terme Euganee and Ischia Island near Naples. The advantages of geothermal energy are that can be extracted without burning a fossil fuel, is always available and its relatively inexpensive. The disadvantages are the release of hydrogen sulfide and many specific locations may cool down. Hydropower Hydropower is electricity generated using the energy of moving water. A typical Hydro plant is a system with three parts: an electric plant where the electricity is produced; a dam that can be opened or closed to control water flow; and a reservoir where water can be stored. Hydroelectric Power provides almost one-fifth of the world’s electricity, it is the cheapest way to generate electricity today. Hydropower is very cheap once you have installed the equipment but they may destroy wildlife or the surrouding area. Energy rating tables and components Energy rating tables are used to measure the general efficiency of a dwelling, with rating a being the most energy efficient and rating G the least energy efficient. They also measure the impact of the building on the environment. Renzo Piano Renzo Piano was born into a family of builders in Genoa, Italy in 1937. He studied at Milan Polytechnic Architecture School and after his graduation in 1964 he worked in his father’s company. Renzo Piano’s first important design was the italian industry pavillon at Expo’70 in Osaka. With Richard Rogers he won the International Competition for the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. Renzo Piano’s principal work includes more than 40 famouse projects as museums, galleries, churches, music parks, institues and natural centres, shopping centers, brioges, reconstruction of squares, airports ecc. Going green Green Architecture Green Architecture is interested in problems regarding the environment, such as carbon emission and energy consumption. Green Architecture give great importance to the correct orientation of buildings and to the choice of site. Green buildings have a low impact on the Earth and its resources but, at the same time, they are welcoming to their inhabitants. Green buildings are very different since there is not a unique Green Style. Ispiration for Green Architecture come from outside architecture. The key preoccupations of Green Architecture can be summarized as: choice of materials, energy consumption and production, waste management and the relation ship of building to site. Green Architect try to use materials that have a low environmental impact. This can mean selecting local materials to reduce the energy consumed in trasportation. It might mean using recycled resources such as cartyres and bottles. It can also mean utilizing conventional materials, such as concrete and glass that are valued for their insulating or light-admitting qualities. The architects is balancing their environmental impact with the qualities. Renewable energy sources are key. Green buildings often have solar panels, wind turbines and other method of energy production built-in. But equally important are designing and orientating the buildings to make the best use of suv and shade. In some climates, especially where there is a prevailing wind, orientation can help keep the building well ventilated or cool. Double or triple glazing also keep in heat. Green buildings normally eliminate air conditioning by appropriate orientation and the careful placing of vents and window openings. A sustainable building is design to reduce waste recycle waste water to flush toilets. The Autonomouse House Architects Robert and Brenda England 1993 They tried to create an environmentally friendly four-bedroom house that was neither exotic in apparereance not difficult to mantein. Much of structure is faced with traditional bricks so it’s fits into its british town sitting. But highly thermally efficient masonry, including high density concrete blocks and large areas of multilayer glazing to keep heat in. Main goals are: Occupants health Energy efficiency Resource efficiency Environmental responsibility Affordability The house is self sufficent in energy (passive solar heating and an array of solar panels produces electricity) and water (rainwater is collected from the roof and filtred for drinking and composting toilets turn waste into fertilazer. Urban development Settlement patterns The shape of the buildings in a town make is called a settlement pattern. Usually affected by the slope of the land around it. A dispersed pattern – is found in areas where the people need a lot of land, such as in farmine areas. A linear pattern – is found in a valley where the steep valley sides prevent growth of the town. May also be found along roads. A nucleated pattern – this pattern is found where buildings in a town are built around a central point. The Classic City (Greek) Hippodamus, an architect from Miletus, advanced theories about the art of town planning in the second part of 5th century. He used a Gridiron Pattern. The town plan was conceived as a design to serve all the people and required appropriate community facilities: The Agora – is the centre of business and political life with shops and market booths. The gymnasium, the stadium and the theatre – (recreation and intertainment facilities) Dwelling Blocks – (houses arranged following the Gridiron pattern) The Acropolis was generally on
