Spring Break
Online Exclusive!!! Symposium addresses controversial environmental issues
Alex Zobel
Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: News
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The general consensus among the speakers was that serious steps need to be taken to limit global warming and energy consumption.
Peter Pfeiffer, an architect who specializes in sustainable, or "green," commercial and residential building practices, spoke about the most energy efficient ways to set up a home.
"It's much easier to control your energy consumption with a house that has the majority of its windows facing north and south," Pfeiffer said. "Those of you involved in subdivision planning keep that in mind. Run your streets east west."
Pfeiffer said this mistake in subdivision planning leads to what he called the "triple whammy."
"You've got too much sun coming into the house in the hot afternoon and the solar radiation eats up the house," Pfeiffer said. "This makes you close your blinds and the house gets dark. A house gets dark. What do you do? Turn on the lights. The third whammy is you get to pay more for air-conditioning."
Dr. Maynard Dyson, a pediatric pulmonary specialist at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, spoke about the negative health effects of air pollution.
He said poor air quality can produce a number of hazardous health effects including: premature birth, infant death, stunted lung growth, asthma exacerbations, respiratory illness, cardiac death and lung cancer.
Edwards said a major problem is the unwillingness of the U.S. government to acknowledge the gravity of the situation.
"As far as climate change they're so much more open with dealing with the issue in general," Edwards said. "They've already gotten to the point where their governments have accepted that climate change is something that's happening, and they're addressing issue further than we are."
Edwards said the solution to the world's energy crisis is investing in many different energy sources.
"There are so many options out there," Edwards said. "We need to make people understand we have to diversify and invest in lots of different energy sources. I'm optimistic that we can change people's minds in that way."
Peter Pfeiffer, an architect who specializes in sustainable, or "green," commercial and residential building practices, spoke about the most energy efficient ways to set up a home.
"It's much easier to control your energy consumption with a house that has the majority of its windows facing north and south," Pfeiffer said. "Those of you involved in subdivision planning keep that in mind. Run your streets east west."
Pfeiffer said this mistake in subdivision planning leads to what he called the "triple whammy."
"You've got too much sun coming into the house in the hot afternoon and the solar radiation eats up the house," Pfeiffer said. "This makes you close your blinds and the house gets dark. A house gets dark. What do you do? Turn on the lights. The third whammy is you get to pay more for air-conditioning."
Dr. Maynard Dyson, a pediatric pulmonary specialist at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, spoke about the negative health effects of air pollution.
He said poor air quality can produce a number of hazardous health effects including: premature birth, infant death, stunted lung growth, asthma exacerbations, respiratory illness, cardiac death and lung cancer.
Edwards said a major problem is the unwillingness of the U.S. government to acknowledge the gravity of the situation.
"As far as climate change they're so much more open with dealing with the issue in general," Edwards said. "They've already gotten to the point where their governments have accepted that climate change is something that's happening, and they're addressing issue further than we are."
Edwards said the solution to the world's energy crisis is investing in many different energy sources.
"There are so many options out there," Edwards said. "We need to make people understand we have to diversify and invest in lots of different energy sources. I'm optimistic that we can change people's minds in that way."
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