Future Proof Lecture Series 2010

It is only in the last 100 years that mankind has harnessed enough energy from, primarily, fossil fuels to be able to construct buildings that can ignore the climate around them and exclude the natural environment from within them.

Energy has allowed architects to design buildings that can ignore natural ventilation, daylight and the sun’s energy by replacing it with an artificial environment that is air-conditioned, humidified, heated and artificially lit.

This ability to use mechanical means to control the environment has allowed architects to freely experiment with the form, fabric and materials of a building in the knowledge that, however poorly the building envelope performs, the internal environment of a building can always be remedied by using more energy for cooling, heating or lighting.

Fossil fuel depletion provides enough reason to change our approach to building design.
However, global climate change will also be a defining characteristic of the 21st century. Every country will have its own problems but New Zealand can expect a series of conspiring problems that will impact on building design.

The Future Proof series of seminars analyses and challenges whether we are designing buildings that are suitable for the future. The speakers will examine whether the so-called sustainable architecture that is currently being built is prepared for climate change or able to adapt to a low energy future.