Vishaan Chakrabarti: A vision of sustainable housing for all of humanity | TED Countdown
Population Growth and Housing Solutions
Introduction to Population Growth
- The speaker shares their background, highlighting a large family in India with 50 first cousins, which leads to the belief that the global population will reach nearly 11 billion by 2100.
- To accommodate this growth, approximately 2.4 trillion square feet of new built space is required.
Scale of Construction Needed
- The scale of construction needed is likened to adding a New York City every month for the next 40 years, emphasizing the enormity of the challenge.
Climate Change Concerns
- The speaker addresses concerns about climate change impacts and questions how to house an additional three billion people sustainably.
- Current clean energy grids are insufficient for existing cities where most population growth will occur due to various challenges like transmission lines and nuclear politics.
Existing Technologies and Limitations
- While net-zero single-family homes can be built today, they are expensive and contribute to car-oriented sprawl, leading to environmental degradation.
- Towers are proposed as a solution but face challenges such as high energy consumption during construction and operation, along with limited roof area for solar energy use.
Future Building Innovations
- Mass-timber construction is highlighted as a promising technology for sustainable building materials that act as carbon sinks.
- There is hope for solar power harnessing windows; however, effective solutions remain in early development stages.
The Goldilocks Solution: A Middle Ground
Finding Sustainable Housing Solutions
- The speaker proposes a "Goldilocks" scale of housing—two-to-three-story buildings—as an ideal solution between single-family homes and skyscrapers.
Characteristics of Ideal Housing
- This type of housing could utilize local materials like wood or brick with low embodied energy while being constructed by local workers.
Energy Efficiency Features
- Incorporating advanced battery systems can balance solar supply with user demand; thermal storage systems can optimize heating/cooling efficiency.
Community Impact
- Such housing could transform waste into usable resources (e.g., composting food scraps), promoting sustainability within communities in need.
Community-Centric Design
Customizable Framework
- Emphasizing that this approach isn't one-size-fits-all; it allows flexibility based on community needs while ensuring visual appeal and social integration.
Supporting Infrastructure
- Densely populated areas would support mass transit options (light rail, buses), connecting residents to jobs, schools, parks, etc., enhancing urban living quality.
Reducing the Heat Island Effect and Sustainable Living
The Goldilocks Framework for Urban Development
- The proposed model aims to reduce the heat island effect, thereby lowering air conditioning demands. This approach promotes sustainable living by minimizing land use that disrupts farms and forests.
- The speaker envisions implementing this framework in diverse urban settings like New York and Calcutta, both of which face challenges from urban sprawl while having vibrant downtown areas.
- By applying the Goldilocks framework, different materials and cultural expressions can be utilized to create carbon-negative, transit-rich neighborhoods that enhance quality of life for residents.
Addressing Scale and Feasibility
- Acknowledging skepticism about the modest scale of this housing model, the speaker emphasizes its potential impact on accommodating a growing global population sustainably.
- If all 11 billion people lived within this framework, it would require a land area equivalent to France, highlighting the feasibility of such an approach without overwhelming natural resources.
Environmental Impact
- The residential energy efficiency of this model is significant enough to offset more carbon emissions than all vehicles globally produce, showcasing its potential as a solution for climate change.