Buzz
A
The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture by Professor Alan Short is the culmination of 30 years of research and award-winning green building design by Short and colleagues in Architecture, Engineering, Applied Maths and Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.
‘The building design crisis is already present,’ stated Short. ‘Policy makers believe that energy and building issues can be resolved with gadgets. This is not the case. As global temperatures continue to rise, we will continue to waste more and more energy on cooling our buildings mechanically until we reach our limits.’
B
Short advocates for a comprehensive reinvention of how skyscrapers and major public buildings are designed – to eliminate dependence on sealed buildings that rely solely on the ‘life support’ of massive air conditioning units.
Instead, he demonstrates that it is entirely feasible to incorporate natural ventilation and cooling into large buildings by revisiting the past, before the widespread adoption of air conditioning systems, which were aggressively marketed by their inventors.
C
Short emphasizes that modern buildings often require sealing and air conditioning to be habitable. The resulting energy consumption and carbon emissions are significant and largely unnecessary. In the West, buildings account for 40-50% of electricity usage, resulting in substantial carbon emissions, and the rest of the world is rapidly catching up. Short views glass, steel, and air-conditioned skyscrapers more as symbols of status than practical solutions to our needs.
D
Short’s book highlights the evolving and sophisticated art and science of ventilating buildings during the 19th and early 20th centuries, including ingeniously ventilated hospitals. Particularly noteworthy are those designed by John Shaw Billings, such as the first Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA (1873-1889).
‘We spent three years digitally modeling Billings’ final designs,’ Short explains. ‘We simulated the presence of pathogens in the air streams, modeling scenarios where a tuberculosis (TB) patient coughs in the wards, and found that the ventilation systems in the rooms would have effectively protected other patients from harm.
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* pathogens: microorganisms that can cause disease
E
‘It was found that 19th-century hospital wards could achieve up to 24 air changes per hour – a performance similar to that of modern, computer-controlled operating theatres. It is believed that hospitals could be constructed today based on these principles.’
Not all patients are suitable for single rooms. Communal wards, suitable for certain patients such as older people with dementia, would function just as effectively in modern hospitals, at a fraction of the energy cost.’
Professor Short argues that the mindset and skills behind these designs have been completely lost. He mourns the disappearance of expertly designed theatres, opera houses, and other buildings where up to half of the building's volume was dedicated to ensuring everyone received fresh air.
F
Much of the creativity in 19th-century hospital and building designs was driven by a frightened public demanding buildings that could protect against what was believed to be the deadly threat of miasmas – toxic air that spread disease. For centuries, miasmas were feared as the primary agents of disease and epidemics, and were used to explain the spread of infection from the Middle Ages through the cholera outbreaks in London and Paris during the 1850s. It was believed that foul air, rather than germs, was the main cause of ‘hospital fever’, leading to disease and frequent death. The wealthy avoided hospitals.
While the miasma theory has long been debunked, Short has been advocating for the past 30 years a return to some of the building design principles that emerged in response to it.
G
Currently, a significant portion of a building’s space and construction budget is allocated to air conditioning. ‘However, I have designed and constructed a series of buildings over the past three decades that aimed to reimagine some of these concepts and then evaluated their outcomes.
‘To move forward into our new era of low-energy, low-carbon footprint, it would be wise to revisit designs from before our current high-energy, high-carbon era emerged. What surprises me is the wealth of heritage we have abandoned.’
H
Illustrative instances of Short’s approach include the Queen’s Building at De Montfort University in Leicester. Housing up to 2,000 staff and students, the entire building relies on natural ventilation, passive cooling, and natural lighting, including its two largest auditoriums, each seating over 150 people. This award-winning building consumes a fraction of the electricity used by similar buildings in the UK.
Short argues that glass skyscrapers in London and around the globe may become problematic over the next 20 or 30 years if climate forecasts and energy price increases unfold as anticipated.
I
He is certain that skyscrapers effectively cooled using natural surroundings can be constructed in nearly any climate. He and his team have collaborated on hybrid buildings in the challenging climates of Beijing and Chicago – structures that utilize natural ventilation with backup air conditioning. Surprisingly, these systems can remain inactive for more than half the time on milder days and during spring and autumn.
Short examines how we might rethink the cities, offices, and homes of tomorrow. Perhaps it’s time for us to alter our perspective.
Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has nine section, A-I
Which section contains the following details?
Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
14 why some people avoided hospitals in the 19th century
15 a suggestion that the popularity of tall buildings is linked to prestige
16 a comparison between the circulation of air in a 19th-century building and modern standards
17 how Short tested the circulation of air in a 19th-century building
18 an implication that advertising led to the large increase in the use of air conditioning
Questions 19-26
Fill in the summary provided below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 19-26 on your answer sheet.
Aeration in hospital wards during the 19th century
Professor Alan Short examined the work of John Shaw Billings, who influenced the architectural 19 ……………………… of hospitals to ensure they had good ventilation. He calculated that 20 ……………………….. in the air coming from patients suffering form 21……………………… would not have harmed other patients. He also found that the air in 22…………………………. In hospitals could change as often as in a modern operating theatre. He suggests that energy use could be reduced by locating more patients in 23 ………………………. areas.
A major reason for improving ventilation in 19th-century hospitals was the demand from the 24 ………………………….. for protection against bad air, known as 25 …………………………… These were blamed for the spread of disease for hundreds of years, including epidemics of 26…………………………… in London and Paris in the middle of the 19th century.
Responses:
14. F (“Much of the ingenuity present in 19th-century hospital … threat of miasmas – toxic air that spread disease.”)
15. C (“Short regards glass, steel and air-conditioned skyscrapers as symbols of status, rather than practical ways of meeting our requirements.”)
16. E (“We discovered that 19th-century hospital wards could generate up to 24 air changes an hour – that’s similar to the performance of a modern-day, computer-controlled operating theatre.”)
17. D (“We spent three years digitally modelling Billings’ final designs,’ says Short. ‘We put pathogens* in the airstreams, …would have kept other patients safe from harm.”)
18. B (“before the widespread introduction of air conditioning systems, which were ‘relentlessly and aggressively marketed’ by their inventors.”
19. design(s) (Đoạn D, “Of particular interest were those built to the designs of John Shaw Billings, including the first Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US city of Baltimore (1873-1889).”)
20. Pathogens (Đoạn D, “‘We put pathogens in the airstreams, modelled for someone with tuberculosis (TB) coughing in the wards and we found the ventilation systems in the room…”)
21. Tuberculosis (Đoạn D, “‘….modelled for someone with tuberculosis (TB) coughing in the wards and we found the ventilation systems in the room…”)
22. Wards (Đoạn E, “We discovered that 19th-century hospital wards could generate up to 24 air changes an hour – that’s similar to the performance of a modern-day…”)
23. Communal (Đoạn E, “Communal wards appropriate for certain patients – older people with dementia, for example – would work just as well in today’s hospitals,…”)
24. Public (Đoạn F, “building design was driven by a panicked public clamouring for buildings …”)
25. Miasmas (Đoạn F, “…that could protect against what was thought to be the lethal threat of miasmas…”)
26. Cholera (Section F, “the cholera outbreaks in London and Paris during the 1850s.”)IELTS exam preparation
