Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
This can be summed up by saying that the optimal ecological building industry
is a cottage industry, which responds to local needs and resources. We will be
moving into deep water when comparing this with the European reality. It
should be made clear here that we are discussing precepts, not an attainable sit-
uation. Different regions have, amongst other things, varying amounts of natur-
al resources. Certain places have plenty of fish while others have an abundance
of iron ore. An exchange of goods is self-evident, and is to everyone's advantage.
However, during the last 100 years, right up to the present moment, develop-
ment has followed a path of extreme centralization.
It is the same situation in the whole of the building industry. Many say that
this centralization has been necessary. 'Large is efficient' is the refrain that
resounds in our ears. But this is not the case if we bring in ecology as a condi-
tion.
Efficiency is the increase in production related to the cost of production:
wages, devaluation of machinery and costs related to energy and raw materials.
The tendency in this century has been a strong increase in the proportion of
wages, while the cost of raw materials and energy has been left behind. The gap
between these two curves has increased so much that from 1960 to 1970 wages
increased fourfold compared to the sum of all other production costs. This
development has been compensated for by increased mechanization. Only the
larger organizations could cope with the immense investment needed; smaller
ones fell by the wayside one by one. Through this expansionist industrial
growth, industry became immensely vulnerable to the smallest changes in mar-
ket forces, with minimal flexibility because of over-specialized production tech-
nology.
Then the energy crisis arrived at the beginning of the 1970s, and suddenly the
cost of energy became a much more important parameter. Apart from the fact
that energy-intensive industries experienced problems, the greatest factor was
the increase in transport costs. Today energy prices have stabilized at a lower
level.
Godfrey Boyle, a researcher at the Open University, has confirmed that an
industry can just as easily be too large as too small, and has concluded that for
many industries the most efficient level of production lies in the region of having
10 000 users (Boyle, 1978). In Sweden they have discovered that the optimal size
of a farm with cattle and pigs is the family-based farm. Shipping companies are
changing from very large to medium-sized ships. Bakeries are closing down
large bread factories in favour of local bakeries.
At the same time, though it cannot be denied that we do not really know the
true relationship between size and efficiency, at least it can be said that it has very
much to do with the actual product. For example, there is no limit to how large
an egg farm can be in order to optimize its efficiency. The Norwegian social sci-
entist Johan Galtung has an interesting view on the problem:
