Our buildings, ourselves.[Modern buildings have helped us forget energy conservation and resource conservation]

摘要: Compared to most species, homo sapiens inhabits an extraordinarily large portion of the earth. From the Inuit who circle the Arctic to the Bedouin who range across the desert of the Arabian Peninsula, people have found ingenious ways to live in climates for which our biology does not predispose us. Today, almost all of us live in places where we would die without shelter. Our buildings function as second skins - huge extensions of our bodies - protecting us from the elements, storing food, and regulating internal temperature. Through our buildings, we have become superorganisms, capable of evolving rapidly to adapt to life anywhere on the planet. But at the same time they have allowed us to forget energy conservation, resource conservation and many other efficient systems, leading to waste in every area and contributing to health problems. This article both describes the problem and points out possible solutions.