(Geologic) Change is Going to Come

On the coastal edges, we have learned to fear the water’s fury when it is whipped by storms into froth and frenzy, surging over beaches and roadways, through cars and houses, knocking down bridges and businesses.  Humans are slow to accept that our own actions have made these storms hotter and more furious.  We are learning (those of us who have not closed our minds against science and fact) the possible consequences of the last hundred years’ profligate spending of resources.

But we thought that only water was engaged in this battle, with results limited to storms, and sea level rise, and scarcity.  Now we learn that the earth can turn against us, too. 

As climate change accelerates, the entire planet is getting involved.  As more water sluices from the glacial shelf and buries the deep ocean plates under greater pressure, this pressure must have relief.  The weight of the water causes the earth’s crust to bend and deform; at the continental margins and marine islands, this pressure squeezes the magma that is present, causing violent and explosive releases.  At the end of the last ice age about 18,000 years ago, sea levels jumped to where they are today, and caused a 300% increase in volcanic activity in the Mediterranean. (Bill McGuire, “The Earth Fights Back, in the Guardian, 7 August 2007.) 

And it is not just volcanoes.  Earthquakes may also be triggered by warming trends.

One cubic meter of ice weighs nearly 2,000 lbs, and when it is removed from areas such as Greenland through melting, the rocks are no longer suppressed by the weight, resulting in their ability to shift position and rebound more easily. “Greenland quakes have risen from 6 to 15 a year between 1993 and 2002, to 30 in 2003, 23 in 2004 and 32 in the first 10 months of 2005, closely matching the rise in Greenland’s temperatures over the same period.” (Goran Eckstrom)  Earthquakes along coastal shores, or from subduction along underwater slopes such as occurred during the series of Sumatran-Andaman earthquakes in 2004, cause tsunamis that travel for thousands of miles, spreading destruction in their wake.

In the face of drought, the earth is changing.  Texas is experiencing the worst drought in half a century.  Without rain for over a month in 100 degree temperatures, the earth is shrinking, causing subsidence and diminishing pressure against underground pipes, resulting in water pipes breaking and further exacerbating the drought.  “One city outside Dallas, Kemp, already experienced a dress rehearsal this month when every faucet was shut off for two days to fix pipes bursting in the shifting and hardening soil.” (“Down to the last drop,” Washington Post, 18 August 2011.)

As the resources of clean water and safe refuge shrink, humans must acknowledge the reckoning.  The Earth is responding, not as a series of discrete and separate incidents, but as a unified and enmeshed system.  Can the appropriate human response be any less?

Radioactive Luxe

When did granite countertops become the single, reliable standard of luxury in the home?

   

The Marble Institute of America acknowledges that demand for granite has increased tenfold in the last decade, to capture about 33% of the entire market. They come from exotic locales around the world, from 60 countries including Africa, Asia, and South America.  We may know of the white marble from the Carrara mines in Italy, but there are blacks from the U.S., pinks from Norway, blues from Brazil, and silver from the Ukraine.  Granite is a dense and coarse-grained stone formed in the continental plates of the Earth, and crystallized from magma.  It is the most abundant “basement” rock on the globe, underlying the sedimentary veneer of the continents.  Some samples may be 600 million years old; stone is not considered a “renewable” resource.

Granite may contain uranium, depending on its source and the composition of soils and elements that are present.  55 samples tested by researchers at Rice University found all samples emitted radiation at higher-than-background levels, and  a few tested at 100 times the amount found in other materials (New York Times, “What’s Lurking in Your Countertop?”, 24 July 2008.)  The additional exposure of granite emitting a high level  of radiation, in close proximity for 2 hours a day, could supply a dose of radiation of over 100 millirem in a few months;  about equal to the annual dose set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for people living near a nuclear reactor.  The average person is subject to exposure of about 360 millirem per year.  Radon is the second-highest cause of lung cancer in the U.S., following cigarette smoking.

The potential hazards of granite extend through mining and manufacturing.  Granite is extracted using explosives placed into a regularly-spaced series of holes made either with a stone-cutting drill, or using a flame torch to create slots, or a high-pressure water jet.  The rock fractures into blocks, which are cut with into slabs, usually about 4’ x 8’, similar to other building materials.  Each slab may weigh up to 1000 lbs, and slab edges may still show a perforated edge from the blast extraction.  The stone is often worked further with CNC mills and diamond-wire saws to make shapes, rounded edges, or specialty cuts, each resulting in additional cost and waste.  The factories working with granite are most often located overseas, without the protection of Occupational Safety laws to ensure safe handling and respirators.  The chemicals in its composition – 72% silica, 14% alumina, and trace amounts of many other elements - are released in cutting and finishing, causing the potential for silicosis, tuberculosis, and lung cancer.

Mining also impacts the land and water quality.  Stone is extracted in open quarries, defined by landform destruction and deforestation.  Quarrying results in increases in sediment and waste water discharges.  Because quarries often extend below the water table, the area must be dewatered in order to mine the rock – this results in removal of groundwater, sinkhole collapses, spring dessication, and other effects. Dust creates one of the most visible, irritating, and invasive impacts of quarrying. (USGS report, “Potential Environmental Impacts of Quarrying Stone in Karst”.)

The greatest hazard of granite may be in the embodied energy.  Embodied energy is the energy consumed by all of the processes associated with the building material, from the extraction to the processing, to the transportation to the installation – the lights, equipment, fuel, etc.  Transportation from sources such as Coimbatore, India to a kitchen counter in Dallas, Texas eats up a lot of resources.  The typical embodied energy for imported granite is 13.9 MJ/kg; compared with common building materials such as kiln-dried sawn hardwood (2.0 MJ/kg), or cast-in-place concrete (1.9 MJ/kg), the embodied energy is very high.

The rebellion against granite should start at home.  There are better alternatives for beautiful and durable countertops.  Stainless steel has high recycled content, with durability and permeability  similar to granite.  Paper recycled into solid surfaces has cashew oil binders.  Wood butcher block is minimally processed, may be made with no formaldehyde and low-VOC adhesives, and can also be Forest Stewardship Council-Certified, or salvaged wood.  Any locally-made material, whether ceramic or glass tile, stone, or composite, will have a lower environmental impact than imported material. 

Why would any family want a radioactive, disease-inducing, land-disturbing, greenhouse-gas-wasting material in their kitchen and bathrooms, these temples dedicated to the production of wholesome food and hygienic standards?  We had better re-examine our current symbol of luxury living, and replace it with a product that is safe enough to eat from.

Hot and Humid

A century ago, people lived in south Mississippi, even in the summertime.  Houses had fireplaces for heat, but folks relied on fans, both electric and hand-powered, for cooling.  There were porches with rocking chairs and swings to make your own breeze.  People flocked to the beach for the summer to take advantage of the afternoon onshore breezes, at the time of day when the heat was most oppressive.

Buildings were constructed with mass and shaded openings to limit direct heat gain, and provide natural ventilation.  In the 1920’s, New Orleans buildings provided comfort about 63% of the hours in a year, and the condition that created the most discomfort was the humidity. 

Not much has changed.  About 13% of the time it’s not really hot enough to use air conditioning, but it is too humid for comfort.  In our slab-on-grade house, these are the days we leave the windows open until the concrete floors get clammy.

This summer, the U.S. has been plagued by unseasonal hot weather across the central area of the country.  More than a dozen cities from Tallahassee to Minneapolis have seen all-time highs exceeding any temperature on record.  The heat index, a combination of air temperature and humidity, reached well into three digits in unanticipated places. Adding to the difficulties, heat waves spawn thunderstorms and high winds, making tornadoes a likely prospect.

The heat attacked places that are usually not affected by humidity: Minneapolis and Cleveland (average summer afternoon humidity = 58%), Dallas (average summer afternoon humidity = 52%), in contrast to New Orleans (average summer afternoon humidity = 67%).  Air conditioning works a lot harder to remove moisture from the air than it requires to cool air, driving energy use higher.

These cities are not designed for this kind of heat, but the weather trend towards greater extremes has become clear, and modifications may be necessary.  There is no model solution to fit every climate, but design can accommodate local climates even as they change.

In humid climates, shading and ventilation are easiest with proper orientation along the east-west axis, a narrow enclosed area to allow cross-ventilation, and wide overhangs on the south side to keep summer sun from reaching the windows.  High ceilings keep warm air away from the inhabited zone. 

These strategies can be applied in any climate, and the building envelope always matters – good insulation, airtightness for when you do run the heat and cooling, and the availability of daylight throughout.  But how can a building or its components change to match the changing climate of the temperate, mixed climates of most of this country?

Prototypes for adaptability were present even in the 1700’s.  The plantation shutter swung wide on cool days to allow light and heat inside, and closed in summers to  deny the heat but allow the breeze.  Houses on raised platforms could sweep cool air from the shaded undercroft up through walls with air cavities and out the top, and be infilled with insulating panels in wintertime (of course, they sheltered livestock there in the old days.)  Keeping deciduous trees close by helps with shading, and the trees’ ability to filter light changes with the seasons.  

Access to the water helped in the pre-AC days, and many people chose to spend summers on the beaches and waterways, isolated from the contagion and plagues of the cities, with space to breathe.  Building in a hot, humid climate demands more space for natural ventilation, with shade trees and at least spittin’ distance from a neighbor’s house.  We don’t need to recreate the architecture of old to reap the benefits of natural ventilation, but we can capture the strategies of a previous age and renew their utility in this age of diminishing resources.