Designs for the future

Anupama Mohanram writes on the message behind Earth Day and why it needs to be sustained all year round

Every year, April 22 is celebrated as Earth Day all over the world. I suppose it is a day for us to pause and reflect on how we have treated nature, and look forward to how we can minimise the disruption we cause it. The issue is we soon tend to forget until the next Earth Day is upon us. We need to find a way to keep our planet in mind at all times and ensure we leave behind a minimal carbon footprint. One way is to ensure our buildings are designed to minimise impact on the planet. In cities like Chennai, for example, we have come to a point where air conditioning is unavoidable, and has become a default requirement. Air conditioning uses excessively high electricity and is a significant contributor to global warming today — not only from burning of fossil fuels but also from the release of hot air into the environment. There are ways to reduce or even avoid the use of mechanical conditioning inside our built spaces. The first step one needs to do is choose building materials that are insulating. These are materials that do not let in much heat from the outdoors.