Why our buildings suck, and how to change them

[@DWPlanetA]

Would you want to live in buildings like these? And what does green architecture look like where you live?

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

I’m a numbers guy so I’m 100% down with being able to see what my utility usage looks like at any given time. My wife will probably never actually look at the numbers but she’s always open to hearing about what they turned out like and what we need to change as a result.

[@elismart13]

from what i know theres isnt any in ireland.

[@ninemoonplanet]

🇨🇦 concrete is "king" here for new condo construction, they actually advertise it. As for monitoring consumption, it's a way to understand what you're doing over the long term. Where I am, Vancouver area, people are tearing down houses built to last 30 years, roughly 1000 SQ ft, and replacing with houses 3-4 times the area, installing natural gas heat. Plastic siding, 15 year warranty, and little if any insulation. Talk about environment and greenhouse gases, you get scowls. This is both embarrassing and infuriating.

[@Suburp212]

make the number mandatory in each flat and accessible to All online.

[@AfterlifeKev]

I live in Milan, Italy. Here I got this 90m2 apartment A4 class made of wood and steel supports. During winter season It may happen that you use the oven for 30 mins and heat the house for the day. I also have that kind of ipad where it shows consumptions around electricity and solar generation (200€ every 2 months. considering heating is electric aswell), we still miss the sewage part though ahah. I used to live in a 30 year old house before, where in winter season the gas bill averaged around 900€ per 2 months period, which is insane. Here in Italy there is an incentive system that allows you to renovate your house for energy purposes for free (If you meet requirements) and many friends of mine are renovating home with this method, 400 kWh/m2*year (as my old house heat dissipation rate) gets to 14 kWh/m2*year, while my house is already 0,12 kWh/m2*year as A4 energy class.

[@TheDaspiffy]

Everyone's house tracks their energy use. You get a bill for it at the end of the month. The difference is that it is easily available on an ipad rather scattered across several meters that you would have to read if you wanted an update before you get your bill.

[@johannesk4884]

It's a bigger novelty in Germany, where you usually get an estimated bill every month and the power company comes maybe once a year to check your meter and adapt your bill accordingly. At this point you either pay them an extra bill, or you get money back. In my old building i didn't have access to my meter anymore because the basement was locked. In the US you can often just acces your hourly electricity consumption with an app on your smartphone, no need for an ipad on your wall.

[@ulrichspencer]

Wow, here in Quebec, the the utility provider gives a nice online portal where you can track your consumption live, as well as providing live estimates of what your bill will be at the end of the month at your current consumption levels. No ipad necessary. I sorta assumed that was widespread by now.

[@timbushell8640]

And compared to the building's average... the and in time compared to your average, say in monthly bands

[@Hiro_Trevelyan]

I don't even see my electricity and water consumption as it's paid by my landlord. They have to reimburse us every year if we paid more than actually used, so it really doesn't help tracking my actual consumption.

[@Harbie]

I'm glad we have our energy consumption (power and gas) visible in an app. And we use it a lot. We charge the car when the sun is shining (if possible) and use our household appliances during the day.

[@thezenarcher]

Perhaps you could also talk about the material and energy waste of detached single-family homes compared to wood-constructed four-plexes and six-plexes? Seems a scalable and cheap alternative for the suburbs that doesn't require all the risk analysis and engineering that makes these retrofits so expensive

[@digitalpetor]

Yes, multifamily houses are better for the environment. But they are not as big of a deal in Europe. It is an expensive choice that some families do.

[@Rick-bo8xw]

For the US this is the first thing that came to mind. Green buildings are great but aren't going to matter if you also building spralling single family developments down the road.

[@1crafter176]

I mean, they're certainly there in Europe, but the numbers are not comparable to the USA in the % of houses being detached. Fe, in Germany, only 26% of households live in Detached houses, while 62% live in Flats

[@timbushell8640]

@@1crafter176 So walkable cities result and racist zoning doesn't happen, as in Canada and the US

[@1crafter176]

@@timbushell8640 no, zoning in Europe works quite differently to how it does in the US. Fe, in Germany, the lowest residential density can still have small blocks of flats, and businesses, Fe. And there wasn't (IIRC) any form of redlining that encouraged segregation

[@lloydjones3371]

1. Please provide the cost of a green building compared to a concrete building. 2. Queer women of color? What about trans, one footed little people from Madagascar?

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

In the management world we have a saying: “what gets looked at gets done.” There’s a very real human reaction to constantly seeing what your actual energy usage is vs your goal, and it leads to reduction in usage like what you saw. The cool thing is that you don’t actually have to build a whole new building in order to incorporate this mentality! The ipad and sensors that you saw in the first building could just as easily be slapped onto any existing building, in fact, my utility company offers to do this for free for any home in the area! And getting the constant reminder of how much energy we use has led to my wife and I using 29% less electricity! But obviously individual action can’t solve all these issues so it’s still important to revamp how we views housing and cities as a whole.

[@asthmatictuna]

It's also a psychological phenomenon that if you make it competitive then it works better as a behaviour modifier. It gives context to your consumption. You feel rewarded by being told you're improving, so it's reinforcing. Our power bills like in many countries shows how your consumption compares to the norm for how ever many people live in your house. People like to know they're doing better than normal or feel bad if they're not meeting the standard everyone else is setting.

[@arkaikk]

Exactly. Planting trees in cities is cool and all and gives a sense of satisfaction. But the change is minimal to just leaving forests alone and letting it do its thing or reforesting some land far away from habitation. But that's less visible to humans so it won't feel as satisfying.

[@bernhardtrian7471]

Whats the name of the utility companie that build these electricity measuring sensors? Can you do it with a Raspberry pi, Arduino or some small electrical control measure compontent ?

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

@@bernhardtrian7471 no idea. Most of the utility companies in the LA area seem to do it. So LADWP, BWP, and GWP all are ones that I know for sure do it.

[@kiraasuka9943]

No it's just first world problem. Compare per capita it's always the Western countries who make the top 10 and always we the USA top the list with double than the second. Turn off the lights and PC when you leave the officer. I never see anyone do this in my career. Lights on and PCs run 24/7

[@doomkitty8386]

As a historian, I am very grateful that you mentioned the embodied energy in historic buildings. Amateur environmentalists often just see old structures as energy drains, failing to realize that many of them have great advantages for energy conservation once you upgrade their climate control systems.

[@mlippert]

I've never seen a building with less need of an AC than my parents 180+ year old farm house. Massive walls of sand and stone (no concrete), so superb insulation. They needed to get an EU energy Rating when they renewed their central heating, and of course the official energy rating is... F. Because modern ratings don't account for ancient building techniques and their advantages...

[@matjazbogacz-udovc4678]

@@mlippert Very interesting standpoint, often overlooked. Also these houses accumulate heat, so when you heat them up (which does take quite a lot of energy), they do not need much to stay warm.

[@haoruchen4216]

Modern system is brutal. And sustainability built upon modern system is a brutal scam.

[@Stefan_Dahn]

@@mlippert That is physically nonsense. Massive walls have the worst insulation and have the biggest heat losses.

[@mlippert]

@@Stefan_Dahn So you're saying an 80 cm insulation of any given material is worse than a 10 cm insulation of the same material? I think it's your physics that's inverted...

[@StoneheadThe]

"40% will be devoted to social housing, and most of its residents will be queer women of color" ... what? Does that mean that "queer women of color" are usually lower on socio-economic scale? Or does that mean that those aren't social housings since the requirement is personal identity, sex and skin color instead of economic ability? I am confused and whichever it is, it bugs me because it's either prejudiced or discriminatory.

[@gcvrsa]

Found the cishetwhitemale. Five seconds searching Google would have given you the facts about the disproportionate rates of poverty experienced by queer women of color (no need for your scare quotes).

[@vantablack6288]

yes

[@alenanela1743]

They are usually lower on the socio-economic scale.

[@StoneheadThe]

@@alenanela1743 Do you have any data to back this claim up?

[@AquaBR2]

Nop, men of color are usually on the low, men are the highest percentage of people who live in the streets

[@Reggy2000]

9:00 hello, if housing only 1% is a failure, what percentage of the population in Germany is queer women of color?

[@truls4643]

Good video. I hope you zoom out in "part two", and explore in what degree the location of a building is more important than it's energy efficiency. I.e. how zoning, density and transport matters to overall long term human emissions.

[@DWPlanetA]

Noted as a possible future topic :)

[@mk-oc7mt]

I would love to see DW do this

[@fireskorpion396]

While DW does produce high quality videos I think you can also have a look at other channels that might provide equal quality, like Not Just Bikes, Climate Town, Alan Fisher or Adam Something, channels that nearly exclusively focus on urban planning ;)

[@truls4643]

@@fireskorpion396 Thanks, that is exactly my point! Planet A and all their other stuff is great. I already watch those guys you mention, and eco gecko, citynerd, active towns, urbaburble and more. But having DW have a go at this subject matter (which is very much related to this video) through the prowess of a proper journalistic lens, - that could make a great follow up video, and it would make the wider implications of the subject at hand more approachable to a wider audience.

[@fireskorpion396]

@@truls4643 fair, more people might get into the topic, and I'll definitely have a look at the channels you mentioned! :D

[@_GMP_]

concept of single family housing in USA are the worst environmental culprits residential apartments & mixed use of shops , office & residential multistory buildings with walkable distances are best which makes a spread-out city a small city - every single home roof is exposed to sun & external atmosphere consumes energy for both cooling & heating - many miles of roads , power , water , sewage , broadband etc have to be constructed & maintained each year - no grocery store near the homes they have travel many miles to make a purchase every day carbon emissions & even online deliveries should travel more miles - large areas of farmlands forests have to be cleared for every single house - on same building foundation 4 storey buildings can be built but laws do not allow embodied energy value is high

[@aleksandrastvardauskas7288]

In a very individualistic culture it is extremely difficult to sell the idea of sharing space with other people as the ultimate success.

[@user-bi8ko7kc6h]

Easy to say than done. As a civil engineer, budget is the most important thing. If it is for residential buildings and looking for greener solutions, so little companies are willing to pay for the high initial costs unless that's one of their selling points and consumers are expecting to pay a lot more. Also, we often see well graded and certified green buildings literally fall into much lower grade in a year or two, not sure why but it is what it is. Another issue is most carbon emission during construction is produced by transportation, not the construction itself.

[@Stefan_Dahn]

Can you please link a source for "green buildings literally....". I don't belive that. The transport energy (co2) is quite low compared to the embedded energy => co2 footprint in concrete and stones etc...

[@gcvrsa]

The real truth is that urban living is by far and away the least environmentally impactful way of life, and it is extremely disingenuous to present these facts and figures without comparing and contrasting them with what the alternatives would be, if they were replaced with lower density structures. There is no human way of living that does not cause some environmental change, but we have a moral duty to cause as little damage as possible. Highly dense urban architecture is far more efficient throughout its entire lifecycle than any other type of architecture.

[@bernhardtrian7471]

Many climate change activists complain about construction method with concrete and steel but they don't calculate that those are the most reliable material for longer sustainability. The only thing that would be accomplished is the green energy usage of every resident in that particular residential building. Also building on flat surfaces, not high building is waste of land and requires more energy usage because of material transport. Urban citys are the best thing for the enviourment.

[@GDIdoujinmediaworks]

Wooden buildings are a privilege in this day and age, whereas sand for concrete is everywhere. Yeah one can say that every tree that was cut down had a replacement planted and thus is renewable, but that can only work for designer houses. Especially when you even see railroads everywhere replacing their wooden ties with concrete or synthetic ties. Railroads! The most environmental form of transport. Just goes to show that wood will always be precious.

[@C783H]

@@bernhardtrian7471 Activists cant calculate or think logically! Hence they are activists. They think we with emotion and yell and scream like a petulant child!

[@SomePotato]

They don't argue against density. They argue against tearing down fine buildings to replace them with better ones instead of upgrading them.

[@Till113]

As someone who lived in an American wood house I prefer the German brick homes. They have better insulation especially against noise. I would love to live in a house with real time energy tracking. Vampire energy usage and unnecessary wasteful behavior could be visualized and therefore prevented.

[@xoxo3588]

You clearly stayed in the northern states because in the south brick homes are just ovens in this heat and I hate it. Would prefer a wood house because they cool down fast at night.

[@addohm]

You stated the real problem in a profound manner without realizing it. "living green is an expensive privilege"

[@crocus5632]

The problem is that so many buildings are built for like Chinese or whatever investors and these are just bought and then stay empty. This should be forbidden.

[@slavenrasic2173]

And how would you do that?

[@makiste4216]

@@slavenrasic2173 In Germany there is a law that if you own a house or a flat you have to use it in some way. Is it empty for too long the state can fine you for it. It's not perfect but a step in the right direction

[@user-bi8ko7kc6h]

Here in the UK, many are local investors who buy lots and offers high rental price. Forcing people to pay really high rent because many can't afford to buy a house or flat. If no-one rent them, they rather leave them empty until someone who can afford to pay the rent. There are lots of empty flats in London.

[@keiznklei]

@@slavenrasic2173 Land Value Tax

[@velvet3784]

I always laugh when architects just throw some plants on a concrete box and call it a ecological

[@charlieangkor8649]

Or greenwash it by presenting the marketing materials on a faux unbleached paper which is a bleached paper with an unbleached paper texture offset printed on it, and saying 0.1% of the price will go to salaries and airplane tickets for top managers of some NGO in Amazon.

[@mk-oc7mt]

The recycling and reuse issues are also cultural. In Japan, trades are often deconstructing and sorting out building materials into up to 20 different bins. In western countries it is very hard to get people to sort out materials.

[@jonathantan2469]

Unfortunately, many postwar & modern buildings in Japan are built with only an expected lifespan of several decades, before they are to be torn down & replaced with a newer structure.

[@mk-oc7mt]

@@jonathantan2469 I was not aware of that. Why are buildings built to last for only several decades?

[@muktadirbhuyan7281]

@@mk-oc7mt I don't the major reasons but some are frequent earthquake, typhoon and tsunamis . And also society nowdays advances too quickly so buildings quickly becomes redundant.

[@g1y3]

@@mk-oc7mt also the in many countries like China and UAE you can't own a land it could be leased from government for 70 year or so House are not made to last longer than that. I live in developing country and here houses are made to cheaper so there's alot of cost cutting ✂️ and most of these houses will last more than thier intended lifespan. Green politics in most country will not work as it's too expensive and if implemented will bar alot of people from entering middle class.

[@mk-oc7mt]

@@g1y3 that’s interesting, thanks for the info. Here in the US, most single family homes and often multifamily are made of cheap and engineered lumber, essentially cardboard. Homes don’t last long here either.

[@ryanzacsanders]

I don't get how giving living room inproportionally to colored women helps to reduce hatred and boost equality. It does exactly the opposite.. sad that nobody seems to think these decisions through

[@ahmedagdi7164]

same, it made no sense to me

[@beback_]

I guess it would have been better to simply give to the poor as wealth is the greatest determinant of privilege.

[@jamestucker8088]

Just think of it as a shelter for people with very special needs. I wouldn't want to live in a Soviet style apartment building where several families share the same kitchen.

[@shaneenzensperger7559]

I just bought a house, and everything I do to it and change creates so much waste that goes only to a landfill. I keep thinking to myself, how can I do this sustainably? Our solutions need to be available at our local hardware store, and every contractor needs to be well versed in those materials and methods, otherwise these changes will never come.

[@milly-sy4bc]

When did people start calling pollution "carbon"? Really narrows the perception of actual harm being done by various pollutants/emissions mixed together

[@АклызМелкенды]

it's just that companies can sell solutions that lessen the carbon footprint while ignoring everything else

[@SomePotato]

It's both. For climate change, carbon is more relevant than general pollution. But of course we should reduce all kinds of pollution.

[@HUEHUEUHEPony]

"Look!!! we emit 0 carbon" Emitting sulphur and fluorine to the air on the background

[@Stefan_Dahn]

People did start that in the year 2525.

[@milly-sy4bc]

@@Stefan_Dahn my mans came back from future to comment here.

[@f.b.lagent1113]

sounds like 1st world problem to me, mostly self gratification. companies are the real problem

[@svartkonster]

And the governments that are scared to take actual measures because they don't want to piss the owners of the companies and investors off. None, and I really mean NONE of them takes this issue seriously.

[@jeanfalconer6377]

'Like proper reporters we just barged into someone's house.' I laughed louder than I should have, thank you!

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

I also laughed pretty hard when they said the guys lives in the basement haha

[@khaledalusaimi3094]

Just for the records , our cities urban planning sucks too.

[@baliczek4568]

9:00 I understand why 1% of people living in ecological buildings is bad thing, but I am interested how big % of German society is composed of queer women of colour that need social housing. There are probably many other women that need it, work immigrants are mostly men and many many more people need that housing not because of their skin colour or sexualities and gender, but because of their financial state. Btw good video 👍

[@BabaDee08]

"most of its residents would be Queer women of color." is an oddly specific demography.

[@redhidinghood9337]

What's with the high rise building in the thumbnail? The housing responsible the most for climate change are single family homes, which use a lot of land to house a small density of people and also lead to higher private car ownership and lower public transport use, besides being energy inefficient and costly when it comes to infrastructure. High rises are the exact opposite, and it would be better if more were built in the west.

[@mahi98goodguy]

Every one lives in a house where energy use is tracked.... That's how we pay electricity bill

[@mardiffv.8775]

That is right, my electric company sends me an email each month about my E-consumption.

[@Jake-iw3tl]

Energy should be free and carbon free

[@antonimalachowski5262]

Lol

[@zeroheroes4081]

@@Jake-iw3tl Nothing is free, there's always someone paying. And western governments don't like carbon free energy sources, or else they wouldn't have been busy shutting down nuclear power plants.

[@herambaanjaneya2177]

The amount of tyranny required to enforce this futuristic nightmare would be Stalin or Mao's wet dream! Classical and traditional architecture with walkable suburbs and townhouses work best for the majority of people. They are the best antidote I think to the collectivist, totalitarian future proposed in this video.

[@guerrilla_radio]

Could you explain what is the problem with concrete? Why is it worse than a tree? Concrete is better than wood in terms of sound insulation, service life, strength, water resistance, insect protection. OSB uses a lot of glue (contains formaldehyde). Wood requires deforestation, sawmilling, chemical processing. I think that in the long-term wooden buildings have a higher carbon footprint than concrete buildings.

[@DWPlanetA]

We made a whole report on concrete, you can find it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpi5iK1tbNF6edE

[@madsmile777]

So Germans banned their own nuclear power plants and set themselves on russian oil anc gas needle, now you ditching building construction? We will overwatch you with a pleasure.

[@For3xampleJohn]

so much wood & plastic alongside it seems like a fire hazard...? Or is it how wooden houses are built?

[@edisonching5202]

a house that tracks energy use.. isnt that just the power company with their monthly electric bill?

[@leemartina8036]

Beina Xu is a really charming reporter, honestly, I think the most charming reporter I've yet seen on DW Planet A

[@Kennon959]

Wish they added subs or dubbed the section with Frank Junker discussing how the basement facility works for non German speakers it seemed like a lot of information was kept away then suddenly "was it his idea?" yes but neglect everything he said prior

[@vidleon]

Turn CC subs on

[@Earth098]

Following are the key aspects of a sustainable/green building 1) Durable and high quality-This increases the lifetime of the building and thus reduce the need to rebuild 2) Energy efficient building envelope- Glass buildings are the least efficient kind of building, in any climate. 3) Energy efficient service equipment, such as cooling, heating, and ventilation systems 4) Located in a right place- building's location and how it connects to the rest of the built environment determines how people access the building, such as, whether they walk, bike, take public transit, or whether they have to drive. 5) Comfortable for occupants- Thermal comfort, good air quality, etc. 6) Well integrated to the surroundings- This determines how a building contributes to it surrounding, which affects the quality of the public realm. Buildings covered with Solar PV or built with recycled material, are not necessarily green, if they are not complied with at least these criteria. Most of the old and refurbished buildings in Germany are greener than to most of the 'green washed' buildings we see in media.

[@PWingert1966]

I'm in low-income and have deeply affordable social housing originally built for seniors in the early 70's. 2/3 of the residents (About 240 apartments) are seniors the rest are people on ODSP and welfare. Rent is RGI and for most people, it's about 149 a month. There are a few market rent tenants paying $850 which is about 1/2 of normal rent here in Toronto. They replaced the bathrooms and showerheads for energy savings. The Windows are from the 1970s and the steam heating is also from the 70s. There is no individual control overheat per unit. There is no motivation to improve the efficiency of the building and most tenants are too poor to care. We get what we are given. The best we can do is use LED bulbs in our sockets and lights. The rest is market-driven. If computer monitors and TVs switched to micro LED to save money it would take a decade before it was common in this low-income environment. The technology would have to be ubiquitous in the rest of the market and fully discounted before it would be affordable to most people here. The average income for people on disability support and seniors is about CAD$11,560 and on welfare it's about $4,500 including RGI rent. It's hard to worry about the environment when you can't eat anything but items from the foodbank. Most people don't have any interest in separating their garbage, recycling and organics since each floor has a garbage Shoot. The average age in this building is increasing and is about 40 or so. But like the rest of society, the population is aging. A bottom-up approach might be the only solution.

[@ishaipicus9274]

In Israel it's standard to use a solar water heater since it's super cheap, basically just a large glass panel with black piping in it . While most houses still have an electric one just as a backup, we won't use it most days of the year unless it's a cloudy winter day

[@mardiffv.8775]

Lucky you for having so much sunshine. In the Netherlands is mostly cloudy.

[@thescotlandeffect3454]

In the UK you have to pay vat to refurbish or repair an old building while a new build is vat free, this is the wrong way round in my opinion.

[@user-bi8ko7kc6h]

Also you have to let the council and neighbors know before doing it....it is a complicated process.

[@iam_abdiqani]

Would I live in a house that tracks my energy use ? No I wouldn't want to judge 👨‍⚖️ and compare myself with my neighbours. I have Social media to do that.

[@LaurensHouweling]

knowing how much environmental impact your having is important. and the raw numbers don’t mean much to people when they have nothing to compare it to. if you’re ranked last you KNOW you can change your lifestyle for the better.

[@CunnyConnoisseur69]

@@LaurensHouweling knowing how much environmental impact you or any other individual has is worthless because it doesn't make a difference, large corporations are ruining this world, not us as individuals.

[@PHlophe]

imagine being in the elevator and your neighbour stares at you like *oh its you the energy waster, you've had too many parties over. Or you've got 3 kids and i've got one*. people would try to ;punish you. I am not on social media. thank god. i mean youtube is enough and i get roasted here already

[@ianuragaggarwal]

There is only one way of sustainability which is to become minimalist. Reduce consumption and take care of your surroundings.

[@Alltoc]

Let's also not forget about zoning laws forcing long commute ways (mostly by car) espacially for lower income households

[@mardiffv.8775]

Exactly, I moved to the city where I work. 95 % of the time I go to work on my bike. My shopping center is only 500 meters away. I have a bike trailer for the heavy loads. I use my car for the long distance, but that is rare.

[@kummer45]

IMPORTANT. Your video article discusses the WALL SECTION !!! This is FUNDAMENTAL for every discussion on energy reduction and building physics architecture. THIS IS a great documentary. 10/10.

[@socialmedia1265]

Firstly I don't have a permanent apartment in Berlin. In Berlin they don't pay enough salary to be eco friendly. I can't afford it.

[@sarcasmo57]

One of the best things about my city (in my opinion) is that the climate means no need for heating or cooling. People still do though.....

[@mk-oc7mt]

Urban planning is a huge component of the conversation around building sustainably. We cannot rely on atomizing buildings into separate sustainable units to achieve a systemic outcome like reducing emissions. At least for audiences in the US, there needs to be a greater education around better planning. I think this video simplifies the issue. Other commenters are making good points about building types and configurations.

[@leonhardpauli5815]

Aspern, Vienna must be quite eco-friendly with it's HoHo

Why does the voiceover sound more like ASMR than journalism?

[@trnstn1]

Old leaky single detached houses that force you to drive are a massive waste of energy especially in North America- that needs to be fixed ASAP

[@elciervoparaguayo3756]

I wouldn't live in an apartment not made from concrete, like i don't want paper thin walls where i can hear my neighbours failed marriage struggling to survive every night

[@benmcreynolds8581]

The coolest thing I saw was this guy built a house on his property by the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington side, I live in Oregon. But his experiment home turned out to be the best thing. He used the natural landscape and built a house into this rocky cliff side area that had, at first a little area his kids would play in. He eventually committed to his dream and made it work so efficiently and naturally balancing. It's s dream place. Near a river system. Uses basic laws of nature to regulate certain things. (I don't know the name of the video and channel I saw it on but it's a channel that covers unique living areas and I'll either comment on this or edit it in so it's findable to see this rocky place, it's like living out your ultimate kid dream of a mega fort but add great knowledge, construction, )

[@franciscolontro5219]

Good content approach, but while you are here why don't go deeper on this subject?

[@John_Smith_86]

That female head of the green council seems to be living in a home, from her video background. She should move out onto the streets to minimise her carbon footprint

[@lauravergot9995]

We already track our energy use through our bills, that's enough. I prefer the repurpose approach.

[@SurviveUntilSunrise]

I’d absolutely love an energy tracker. Especially if it came with tips and features such as weather ai acknowledgement or something like that.

[@allatones]

This is the very challenge in my town - Boulder, Colorado USA. The University of Colorado at Boulder, has negotiated the annexation of land they own into city zoning, in order to move forward with a complicated project including municipal flood protection, affordable housing, and educational facilities. The challenge now presents itself: this new development is proposed on a site that is originally in a floodplain - a natural riparian, wetland habitat, rare in this arid climate, and no less during a historic drought. If affordable housing where the issue, why isn't the university looking at housing that is closer than 5km from their main campus, in buildings already constructed? It's sickening to see an institution push their world class environmental studies department, while blatantly chosing profit over people, and insisting on using their leverage in the city to highjack a flood project, use it to negotiate annexation T&C, and ultimately dictate water rights. Isn't this gaslighting, greenwashing, and a ruse? How do we change the system indeed....repeal the annexation by referendum in our upcoming election. Vote YES.

[@mk-oc7mt]

That’s a huge shame. The UC capital planning division is likely siloed from the sustainability department. The UC system sees the high cost of building and high land values in Boulder, and does not account for the environmental services of the flood zone to the residents of the city. The risks and externalities of development are then outsourced as costs to the public, while UC profits from development is privatized.

[@allatones]

@@mk-oc7mt I would bet you are right! And you know who is not at the table when discussing how to "use land?" ANY of the dozens of indigenous communities in the "state" of "Colorado" - I wonder how much less climate crisis we would be in, IF the settler colonialism mindset took a backseat to Aboriginal knowledge systems....

[@LuisRodriguez-tm1ld]

You know what’s bad for the environment, 10 billion people by 2050

[@wtcnl]

Spoken about weird ... it is, 0:43, an utter city's environment, with just a very little green; some tree's and well, some grass around the tram-rails. Let me suggest: the kids will play 95% of their time at home. But, 3:45, surprisingly, with a lawn-mower ... And then, 10:20 - even more surprisingly: the geese (Alopochen aegyptiaca) already took that job!

[@agritech802]

An important subject and a great fun presenter, well done 🙂

[@learnerm3120]

I like the narrator's sense of humor and lovely voice. She should narrate all the stuff I watch on KZbin. I would watch even more videos.

[@mtbrider619]

Average salary 60 000 euros. Man in Bulgaria its about 7000 euros lol. And probably 80% of people earn less than 6000 euros per year. Things would be great if we had free energy like you

[@elismart13]

10:25 of course i would, that would be great information to know

[@lemstrous]

Use: Induction Cooker(instead of Gas), Induction Water Heater(Instead of Boilers), LED Ligths, Use Smart Sensors(Temp, etc.), Use Inverter Heat pump(instead of Furnace) and Good Home Insulation

[@mardiffv.8775]

And how is that electricity for you induction cooker generated? Wind and solar? No, the wind does not blow all time and the sun does not shine at night. So there is always a powerplant on the backround: coal, gas, biomass = wood and nuclear energy. Heat pumps are a supplement, but never a replacement. There colder it gets outside the less a heatpump gives heat. So a heating backup is necessary.

[@jimcrelm9478]

The technical solutions to CO2 have existed for a long time. As with the famine problem, the problem is economic not technical. We need long term, patient investment in the long term interests of all residents of this planet, stable incentives and a robust way of dealing with bad actors. Unfortunately, most governments are ideologically committed to the principle of absolute freedom for investors, at the expense of de facto freedom for the rest of us.

[@peterlukacs2373]

Wonderful start, thanks for the whole team for amplifying these thoughts, hope to see pt2 pt3 pt4 etc, a whole series on the subject, as others suggested in the comments. Density in itself is a most complex issue, with regards to its effects on the psychology of individuals, the political power of a community, the geography, historical change and the "laziness" infrastructure of production and living (i.e. what we people #do and how we spend the rest of our days), and so on. The huge question of "building for who" is definitely a vast & suspenseful topic with lots of ghost-projects and investigative journalism. A very romantic one would be: why is it or is it really a quite selfish addressing of the problems to secess, to move out of this network of power we call cities to find village life (again?) for the masses, with the cave communas in Spain to the rootlessness of "digital nomads" (man i hate that expression, we re just kids forever, afraid of speaking up for real change), or the guy living in a bike with his goat, and so many other strings in the fabric of sustainable(?) living with real impact outside of cities. wishing the best to the whole crew!

[@edwardrow]

you already live in a home that tracks your energy use? host saying shes not sure she would is odd, dont you get billed for it every month? Having a real time display of course makes this better. Germany is doing a lot of great things when it comes to sustainable building, livability. Their general approach architecture rules. 40% social housing is great. More of this

[@32stevo]

i dont know how every country does it but most of the time the electic company isnt going to every house to read every meter the bill they send you is just an estimation where im from they only come to read your meter maybe once every 6months or if your disputing your bill.

[@tupyx8157]

When you sign up for energy in Germany you tell them how much you are going to consume - e.g. 2000 kwh for 2 persons. And then you update them with your current numbers annually, or every 6 months (which is just an update). So at the end of a year, every German either gets money back, or has to pay some to the provider. So yeah, you do have some insights into your energy use. I guess if you want to track your consumption more closely you can just get smart meters. It's pretty convenient though if it comes with the flat.

[@erlingschrder8530]

"The construction industry accounts for nearly 40% of global CO2 emissions" Highly misleading.

[@deschurk6852]

In my car I can see how much energy I'm consuming. That was for me the biggest trigger to change driving behavior! I would absolutely like to live in a house that tracks my energy use. But ofcourse that's not for everyone the best to change or be able to relax in your own home.

[@Game_Hero]

9:08 How do you know that? Are there quotas or something or is it just a probable guess?

[@carsonwieker]

Great video, thanks for sharing, cheers

[@bijoychandraroy]

I loved.... the humor in this such serious... professional documentary..

[@0sliter0]

Every flat comes with this iPad that shows you how much energy Lmao...

[@moladiver6817]

In The Netherlands most construction has been on hold for about 2 years because of a court ruling. There's too much nitrogen in the ground. Major construction companies are now slowly turning their heads towards wood construction. Things can change rather rapidly. You just need the proper legislation in place, and institutions to enforce it.

[@bernhardtrian7471]

Wow, thanks for the info, didn't know that. But how did so much nitrogen get into the ground in the first place? As far as I know its only by humans with fertilizer. The rest is by Biomass or rain that carries nitrogen excess from phonotsynthesis. But by that there was never an issue with overwelming amount of nitrogen deposition in the underground. Especially near urban places, where everything is already concrete for cars buildings and infrastructure

[@salescrypt727]

What about: 1. Chemical leakage from repurposed materials? 2. Cancer risks from living in a building that decomposes? 3. You do not know what exposure even the cleaner materials you are using had before? 4. Is there exposure to non-ionizing radio frequencies?

[@Byrro-edits]

Didn’t understand what he was talking about in the basement of the building. I assume they use water to water heat pumps.

[@carlomorischi3435]

What about fire risk in 100% wooden buildings?

[@user-bi8ko7kc6h]

You can have a fire resistance coating. If it is using timber, it literally fire resist for a long period of time, I mean hours, way more than enough for fireman to come.

[@Hussainpiplodwala]

I live in a house where i can track my energy usage by the electricity bill which i get..:p

[@ncammann]

In the UK they are trying to roll out "smart meters" for the utilities, so that house occupants get minute by minute data on their energy and water use. When I first got one i used it and checked things, but after a while I found it was just an annoying gimmick.

[@Cubs3344]

All those compress wood not suitable for all. Some places particular in tropical climate, those wood will be a major termite nest, bugs and if not regularly maintain might rot away pretty soon. Maintenance add cost

[@mancavestudios8955]

If the average inner-city apartment is bad for the environment, then the Single Family Zoning complex is nuclear!

[@sebastianwrites]

And why a building for "queer women of colour." That seems anti-straight, and queer men? Queer men suffer more discrimination than queer women, that's for sure! And secondly, the biggest discrimination I believe overall, is classism. But it's the one prejudice that people want to tackle the lease, because it is the least trendy and fun. This seems about PC Popularity, and not about doing the 'right' thing? PS: I don't really understand her comment why she wouldn't want a building that monitors her energy use... we're adults, we're free to note this not? I'd be happy to have such as this.

[@DWPlanetA]

Hey Sebastian! The house aims to be a safe space for a group that suffers from several forms of discrimination. That does not mean, however, that others do not deserve a safe space. Would it motivate you to know how much your neighbors are consuming? Or just to know for your own energy consumption?

[@calvinng5598]

What about electric cars? The way electric cars chips process has carbon footprints. Everything we do in our daily lives has carbon foot print.

[@juanmontoya6622]

The "Progressive" solution: Adobe skyscrapers with no windows, Unionized hand cranked elevators; outhouse bathrooms in the basement that doubles as fertilizer on city crops nearby. Downtown? no roads access ever! Deliveries? Chinese styled human trucks (furniture on backs strapped by ropes). All "humans" must walk 50 miles to get to downtown. Restaurants with really slow food choices: Vegan or recycled trash converted into "nutritious" chips. Recyclable shower water only refreshed after 1,000 showers, and after that converted into semi drinkable water. Life expectancy to substantially decrease in order to make room for those not aborted by "Progressive" mothers. Recyclable cardboard beds, and newspapers as blankets (recyclable, of course). Cold meals all the time since a hot meal invites global warming. No Mexican food ever since it contributes to climate change due to ingredients and its emissions byproducts. These are only the beginning towards a road brimming with "sustainability" Newspeak and mind control would also decrease global warming, carbon footprint, and non sustainable thoughts (i.e. free thinking, freedoms, individuality, self-reliance, and all the similar other "toxic behaviors").

[@glow15]

It would be cool to track your energy use in live time! Instead of just a bill you get once a month, one would be able to tweak their energy use if they're going over-budget :)

[@syaidelhasyim7419]

4:09 i think not just in frankfurt living green is expensive,all country too 🥲

[@rchltrrs]

I would be interested to see more on this topic. I think that in the long run, we need to brace retrofitting buildings with green technology. If nothing else, people need to deal with the fact that the technology will change faster than we can build! I would be curious to know about some more tailored solutions to energy efficiency. We have gotten used to building the same way regardless of local climate and that doesn't make sense.

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

Your local power company may have suggestions on their website. I know mine is willing to come in and assess my insulation and appliances for free.

[@psd993]

the challenge there is that there is a threshold below which retro fitting is not feasible. Consider places with a proliferation of single family homes. By simply having more walls exposed to the outside, the need for insulation is drastically higher, on a per individual or family basis, compared to say apartments. If we can build with mostly wood, the choice between retro fitting or simply building denser becomes closer.

[@dustman96]

All I see is greenwashing. Real sustainable housing looks nothing like any of this.

[@E1Luch]

In your opinion, how would actually sustainable housing look like?

[@dustman96]

@@E1Luch Small, good design over size, well insulated, efficient appliances, try to use local and and abundant materials like dirt, which has excellent qualities for almost any environment. The way we do architecture is ridiculous. Brainless termites do way better.

[@E1Luch]

@@dustman96 There are tradeoffs though. Smaller buildings have bigger ratio of surface area to internal volume, which means it's easier for heat to escape and you need more power per volume to keep it warm. Also building small means your settlement, however big it would be, is intrinsically low-density, and it means it's much harder to get adequate infrastructure to everyone, because you need more roads, cables, pipes per person, and increased land use comes with it's own environmental problems

[@E1Luch]

@@dustman96 But also, wouldn't we still need some frame to build with dirt? How good of an insulator is it and what kind of strength a dirt house would have? Btw, if you have any article or video or whatever on the matter to share, please feel free to do so, I would love to take a look

[@hrushikeshavachat900]

Green concrete and local management of waste can be 2 major starting points for sustainable construction.

[@andreavila8994]

Yes! Buildings should tell us how much we're using in resources --energy, water, waste production. Along with realistic things to consider for reduction. Getting people to change takes time. Before a focus on recycling, we must have a focus on reduction. Reduce, re-use, recycle. In that order.

[@Hession0Drasha]

Apartments are too expensive to buy in the first place, unless any of this can change that, it's irrelevent to the average people who are forced into renting.

[@Meloncov]

...how do you live in a house that doesn't track your energy use? I mean, I suppose it's the energy company doing the tracking, not the house, but that doesn't really seem meaningfully different?

[@domsigno41]

I like her she keeps you engaged. Great video!

[@GregHighPressure]

why not look at your energy bills to know how much you are using? everyone has access to their meters and data! you can get kits to smart house those readings for a pittance....

[@savannahmiddlefield616]

Don’t worry about co2 from building. Worry about the daily co2 from planes, especially rockets and military aircraft. the country with the largest military and rocket makes the most co2 in the world.

[@mardiffv.8775]

Yes, planes are very energy consuming. We should subsidize train travel. The jet fuel of flying is enough to heat your house for a year.

[@qolbalt9289]

If they make building from wood in Singapore, do they have forest?

[@OddsandEnds]

We need to change fast, a neighborhood getting developed near where I live have fake triangles adding to the attic to make a house look bigger

[@darinbauer8122]

I would have the iPad, but Germany is far too far. I would have to suggest open sourcing energy efficient building. Maybe an online database. Rad video!

[@rainking1470]

Queer women of color, so you are getting a place to live based on your sexuality and your skintone, im not for that, we are all equal.

[@harmaanrajmadon7010]

The last bit: investors want fast and often outsize return on capital is why the world is facing a crisis. Earlier, houses were built of wood and stone, which are natural materials and therefore sustainable by definition. Also, they employed local craftsmen and tradespeople, thereby generating local employment. These are simple concepts, which need to be revived

[@googyoutub7481]

subscribed😆

[@theinfotainer3451]

Have you ever wondered why a building is called "building" if it's already been built, idk it's been bugging me for a while

[@mallubro2853]

....You just made me think that . And now its bugging me too . How about we call it "builded"(cool right?😂)

[@moirai1161]

i love ur channel. makes me want to work in your organization.