Page 20 - Between light and shade

between light and shade, TRANSPARENCy and reflection

He derives from this an empathetic society
living with respect for the biosphere, which
attracts and delights me. However, I will only
make reference here to his thoughts on the
energy aspect as it relates to construction:
1. The second fundamental law of thermodyna-
mics relating to entropy states that all energy
deteriorates, from available to unavailable. It goes
from hot to cold, from concentrated to dispersed,
from order to disorder.

I would add that all buildings, even the most
energy-efficient, consume the energy needed for
their own construction, as their aim is to meet
human needs, i.e. to move from cold to hot, from
dispersed to concentrated and from disorder to
order.
2. Renewable energies are becoming available to
everyone, everywhere: e.g. solar, wind, hydroe-
lectric, geothermal and biomass energy 12. Their
deployment removes the need for a pyramid-style
economic power structure, as engendered by the
previous concentration of energy production, and
requires society to be organised as a network. Our
new buildings (like our vehicles) are all becoming
small production and storage units 13.

12 The mastery, far-off perhaps, of nuclear fusion cannot be ruled
out.

13 This is all the more desirable, or inevitable, given that the cost
of top-down (pyramid-shaped) distribution of any kind is

20