Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
needs created by the introduction of the automobile.This yearning for the
natural landscape is reiterated by Michael Robinson in his discussion of
bioparks, which he sees as necessary both for maintaining biodiversity and
for teaching the bioliteracy that is essential for an educated, informed pop-
ulace in the twenty-first century. Jon Coe sees in the design of zoo exhibits
a way to engender in people a respect for wildlife and an appreciation of
biodiversity.
Erick Valle and his colleagues in the New Urbanism movement are
breaking with traditions of “traditional urbanism” or “cultural urbanism.”
They draw on features that have evolved historically in successful commu-
nities—accessibility to shopping and services, so that cars are not necessary;
economic diversity in neighborhoods; a reflection of local social patterns;
and use of regional materials and vernacular architectural styles rather than
imported ones. Their integration of the natural, the built, and the cultural
environment is another manifestation of the new environmentalism.
Fundamental to the health and survival of any community are functional,
affordable water supply and sewage systems. Martin Melosi has given us
insights into the connections between belief systems, technologies, and
health in England and the United States from the seventeenth century
through the nineteenth. He has also revealed the extent to which our cur-
rent water systems are based on outmoded and flawed science. Ashok
Gadgil, in contrast, offers a state-of-the-art yet simple and inexpensive solu-
tion to the problem of water disinfection. His invention, now marketed
under the name UVWaterworks, is an energy-efficient, compact, light-
weight device that can rapidly disinfect unpressurized water, such as water
that is carried from wells or rivers. For five cents of electricity per day, it
can produce potable water for a village of up to 2,000 people. This is an
example of the more benign technological solutions that I envision for the
future. Gadgil's impetus to develop the apparatus was his compassionate
response to the plight of cholera victims in one of the poorest areas of the
world. It is this sort of ethical motivation that I also see as part of island
civilization.
Kathryn Henderson and Marley Porter both have contributed essays
about straw-bale architecture. Here again is a reversal of the twentieth-
century trend toward ever more complex technologies. The return to a
low-cost, natural material and the revival of a 100-year-old construction
method prove not to be just a nostalgic evocation of a romanticized way of
life, but actually provide high levels of energy efficiency as well as design
