La Matinale’s guest on Sunday, June 28, Patrick Coulombel, founder of the Emergency Architects Foundation, discussed the measures that buildings need to take to adapt to global warming.
This text corresponds to part of the report transcript above. Click on the video to watch it in full.
France is in dire need of adapting to the scale of global warming. The Nantes University Hospital receives a lot of attention. The architect defends his hospital design as partly without air conditioning. It shows triple glazing, 42 on the outside. 26 inches. Will this work when the hospital is occupied by people, human heat, running machines?
Theoretically, we are capable of such things. In practice, this is the operation that should be considered. After this, adjustments will undoubtedly have to be made. Please take a look, because on paper, we know how to do this in the calculation, it is enough to put very important insulating materials. After this, it will be necessary to avoid consuming energy inside to heat the interior.
And then there are cars, people that move…
Theoretically, there is engineering that should do this. I am also an architect and engineer. It’s not that it shocks me, it’s that it’s possible if you actually put in the work. This is theoretically possible, but must be considered on a case-by-case basis. We can’t do a general analysis of everything. I don’t know this particular file, but in principle it is possible that it will work.
Should we adapt the building to such extreme temperatures now? Should we just install air conditioning everywhere now?
The political world is mostly about current affairs, meaning it works a lot on current events. We need to look at things a little more perspective, look at what is happening in many foreign countries. We work in many countries, very hot countries, countries that are both humid, hot, etc. We just need to look at home, like the West Indies. They also manage things. You know, we’re getting closer to this too.
By the way, are all rooms in the Antilles equipped with air conditioning?
We found solutions, at least for individual housing. We have found solutions for ventilation. In hospitals, generally speaking, the air conditioning solution, in any case, in terms of how people feel, is fundamental. Otherwise it will work very poorly unless you create the engineering that can do it. You know, the story with triple glazing, these things are prohibitively expensive. We know how to insulate buildings, we know how to do it is very important. We have the capabilities to do this. The problem is that you have old buildings. The problems that exist in large cities, especially large heritage cities, is that if you are going to work on facades, it will be very difficult. You also have technical problems, which are a set of complex problems that require a little time. The real problem with all this is that there is always someone who will say: “Yes, you need money to do anything.” Before we have money, I think we should already have robust programs in place. Programs should not just be written by elected officials, they should be programs that are carried out by technicians who know the subject well and who can cover all areas in a way that provides solutions that are global solutions, not a blanket solution, but building-by-building solutions every time. We cannot do a completely global analysis by saying:We’re going to condition everything.” or “We’re not going to condition anything.”. We can’t do this. You will have to inspect each building.
But does this simply require general mobilization?
It takes work, it takes skill, it takes hiring architects, hiring engineers, bringing people to the table. Many difficulties await us. Architect today is a difficult profession, with great difficulties, because in architecture schools we no longer learn too much technology. So there are a lot of engineers involved in this project, and the architects have become people who do almost exclusively drawing. This is very serious and I don’t think it will benefit society as a whole.
They are also very criticized. Having built houses without shutters over the years, building schools like this school in Lantress, we have seen a lot with a glass roof at a 50 degree angle.
We need to see where programs come from and who created them. We too can make a difference. Who funds and who designs the programs? After all, they are the chosen ones. Today the mayor has the right to everything. He has the right to sign a building permit. It is he who will install the programs, it is he who will approve the programs, saying: “I want this.” This is a huge power. He is the only one who signs, alone. He has an extremely important responsibility. I’m not saying they shouldn’t exist. I believe that this responsibility must be shared.
Click on the video to watch the full interview.