THE GLASS FAD Trouble or Worth It? by Nina NDICHU
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Figure 1: From the imposing I&M Building (left), which glitters in the warm Nairobi sun to the newly constructed Sifa Towers (right), Nairobi clearly sees a future in glass. Source: NATION NEWSPAPER
Glass buildings have become very popular not because they provide excellent views and allow maximum light into a building but because they demonstrate how far we have come in the development of materials (Musau, 2015) . Most designers argue that the glass skyscrapers reflect architecture in the present and most clients feel relevant having their buildings covered in glass. I myself used to be fascinated with fully glazed buildings growing up,until I first learnt about the damage they are doing to our environment in my second year of university. My professor was very passionate about relaying the information of how buildings affect climate too. That got me thinking, why is it when we talk about climate change, we only think about the damage caused by human activities and not the buildings we ‘live’ in every day. From this brief encounter of learning about building science and passive cooling and heating technologies, I slowly came to realize that our ancestors had this right. They had been designing climate responsive buildings for the longest time and industrialization came and ruined it for everyone. The most talked about topic in the world today is climate change and has been situated within the context of reducing global temperatures by
2°C or we will have no resources left for us on the planet let alone future generations. Yet, come to think of it, the buildings we occupy are the major contributors to the ever-heating landscape we live in. The cycle is the same: the more it gets hotter, the more we use our air conditioners and the hotter it becomes and the stronger and more energy dependent our air conditioners become. Did you know that the refrigerant in air conditioners is the main contributor to carbon emissions that has led to global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer?
Glassiosis In this digital age, designers face the dilemma of clients opting for buildings that are designed in various climates as they bring these images from the internet and suggest that we should design the same in their home climates. But the fact remains, a building built in a temperate climate will not do well in a tropical one. Moreover, if you do not employ the basic passive and active techniques, the building will have a high carbon footprint, high running costs due to cooling of the building using air conditioning and primarily have low thermal performance, therefore making it energy inefficient.
