70 Our Green Future

CHAPTER 1 Green Design SOME YEARS AGO GREEN WAS SIMPLY A COLOR. NOW IT'S MUCH MORE! In the second part of the 18th century, some parts of the world started to change very quickly. In Western Europe, new ways of farming were invented, and many factories were built. Different kinds of machines did work that people and animals had done before. Railroads and better roads brought everyone and everything closer together. Coal and oil became extremely important in everyday life because they were needed for all the new machines. Towns grew quickly and many houses, schools, and hospitals were built. Over time, people were able to earn more money and they were able, of course, to spend it, too.

第一章绿色设计几年前，绿色只是一种颜色。 现在更多了！在18世纪下半叶，世界上的一些地区开始发生非常迅速的变化。 在西欧，人们发明了新的耕作方式，建立了许多工厂。 不同种类的机器完成了以前人类和动物所做的工作。 铁路和更好的公路使每个人和每件事都更紧密地联系在一起。 煤和石油在日常生活中变得极其重要，因为所有的新机器都需要它们。 城镇迅速发展，建造了许多房屋、学校和医院。 随着时间的推移，人们能够赚到更多的钱，当然，他们也能够花这些钱。

By the late 20th century, life in many countries was much more comfortable than it had been two and a half centuries earlier: big cars, fast planes, electric refrigerators, and supermarket vegetables already washed, cut up, and covered in plastic! If something was broken, people could just throw it away and buy a new one. Life had never been so good— or so we thought. In the 1970s, some people began to feel very worried. What would happen if we continued using the Earth's natural resources as if there were no tomorrow? One day, there would be no more coal or oil left. What was the pollution from homes and factories doing to our environment? Greenhouse gases were changing our climate. Maybe the comfortable life we had made for ourselves was, in fact, a great danger for our world. And so green thinking was born, a big idea that touches governments all over the world, and a small idea that touches us all in our homes. People decided it was time to work with the Earth instead of against it.

到20世纪后期，许多国家的生活比两个半世纪前舒适得多：大型汽车、快速飞机、电冰箱和超市里的蔬菜都已经洗好、切好、用塑料覆盖了！如果什么东西坏了，人们可以把它扔掉，然后买一个新的。 生活从未如此美好——至少我们是这么认为的。 在20世纪70年代，一些人开始感到非常担忧。 如果我们继续像没有明天一样使用地球的自然资源，会发生什么？ 总有一天，煤和石油将不复存在。 家庭和工厂的污染对我们的环境有什么影响？ 温室气体正在改变我们的气候。 也许我们为自己创造的舒适生活，实际上对我们的世界是一个巨大的危险。 因此，绿色思维诞生了，这是一个影响到世界各国政府的大理念，也是一个影响到我们每个家庭的小理念。 人们决定是时候与地球合作而不是对抗它了。

CHAPTER 2 New Materials, New Ways WITH NEW MATERIALS AND NEW WAYS OF USING OLD MATERIALS, WE CAN START TO BUILD A GREENER FUTURE. Traditional buildings are made from different types of wood, stone, and metal. This can be a problem if we use too much of them. It takes a lot of energy to get these materials from the Earth and to move them from place to place. So, green architects have to think of new ways of building. They often choose renewable materials materials that the Earth replaces quickly. Some kinds of trees take 80 years to grow fully. Using wood from these trees is bad for the environment. However, wood taken from the bamboo plant is perfect for green building. It is one of the fastest growing plants in the world, sometimes growing one meter in only 24 hours.

第二章新材料，新方法用新材料和新方法利用旧材料，我们可以开始建立一个更绿色的未来。 传统建筑由不同类型的木材、石头和金属制成。 如果我们使用太多，这可能会成为一个问题。 从地球获取这些材料并将它们从一个地方移动到另一个地方需要大量的能量。 因此，绿色建筑师必须想出新的建筑方法。 他们通常会选择可再生材料地球很快就会替代的材料。 有些种类的树需要80年才能完全生长。 使用这些树木的木材对环境有害。 然而，从竹子中提取的木材是绿色建筑的完美选择。 它是世界上生长最快的植物之一，有时在24小时内就长了一米。

Different ways to insulate buildings have also been found. Engineers are using renewable and recycled materials, such as old newspaper. The newspaper is cut into very small pieces. The pieces are blown into the space behind a wall with a special machine. The tiny pieces fill even the smallest hole. This stops the cold wind from getting into a building and the heat from getting out. Straw is also used to insulate wooden buildings, making them about 75 percent more energy efficient. Interestingly, straw protects a building from fire, too. No air can get into the wall, so a fire cannot pass through it either. Green building materials should also last for as long as possible, and there are ways to help this happen. There is a special type of glass for buildings that acts like a large pair of sunglasses. When sheets of this glass are put around a wooden building, they protect the wood from the heat of the sun. This helps control the temperature and also reduces the need for repairs.

人们还发现了不同的建筑隔热方法。 工程师们正在使用可再生和可回收的材料，比如旧报纸。 报纸被切成很小的片。 这些碎片被一种特殊的机器吹入墙后的空间。 这些小碎片甚至填满了最小的洞。 这可以防止冷风进入建筑物，也可以防止热量散发出去。 稻草也被用来隔离木制建筑，使它们的能源效率提高约75%。 有趣的是，稻草也可以保护建筑物免受火灾。 空气不能进入墙壁，所以火也不能穿过它。 绿色建筑材料也应该尽可能持久，有一些方法可以帮助实现这一目标。 有一种特殊类型的建筑玻璃，就像一副大太阳镜。 当把这种玻璃片放在木制建筑周围时，它们可以保护木头免受太阳的热量。 这有助于控制温度，也减少了维修的需要。

A material called fly ash is also useful. This is the waste material that comes from burning coal. Around the world, a lot of coal is burned for energy. This makes a lot of fly ash. Rather than pouring this ash into the ocean or landfills: builders can mix it with concrete. This reduces the amount of other materials in the concrete. It also makes the floors and walls of buildings very strong and thick. These floors and walls need fewer repairs over time. But green building is not just about how we use natural materials; it is also about saving energy. For example, engineers have invented new ways of keeping buildings warm. Pipes with hot water running through them are put under the floor. Heat from this water then goes up through the floor and helps heat the building. This is called radiant heating.

一种叫做粉煤灰的材料也很有用。 这是燃烧煤炭产生的废料。 在世界各地，大量的煤被用作能源。 这会产生大量的飞灰。 而不是将这些灰烬倒入海洋或垃圾填埋场：建筑商可以将其与混凝土混合。 这减少了混凝土中其他材料的用量。 它还使建筑物的地板和墙壁非常坚固和厚实。 随着时间的推移，这些地板和墙壁需要较少的维修。 但是绿色建筑不仅仅是关于我们如何使用天然材料；这也是关于节约能源。 例如，工程师们发明了保持建筑物温暖的新方法。 有热水流过的管子被放在地板下面。 然后水的热量通过地板上升，帮助加热建筑物。 这被称为辐射加热。

Engineers have also thought of clever new ways to turn the sun's energy into electricity. These days, it is not unusual to see solar panels on the roofs of buildings. But many green buildings now have solar tubes instead of traditional skylights. These tubes are like pipes for sunlight. Using mirrors, they carry light from the sun all over a building, reducing the need for electric lighting.

工程师们还想出了巧妙的新方法把太阳能转化为电能。 如今，在建筑物的屋顶上看到太阳能电池板并不罕见。 但是现在很多绿色建筑都用太阳能管代替了传统的天窗。 这些管子就像吸收阳光的管子。 利用镜子，他们将太阳的光带到整个建筑，减少了对电力照明的需求。