Sustainable design: microclimates and biodiversity

Nick Radford, Director of Ecoliving Design, continues his examination of the elements of sustainable design with a focus on microclimate and diversity. Energy is used if the climate is outside a favourable range and the main way to influence the outside microclimate (and save energy resources) is vegetation. Trees provide shade that is cooler than the shade under a tin roof. Trees also cut out wind and both cold and hot winds put a lot of stress on plants and animals. It can be really simple to have a low energy house without air conditioning.

Nature is stable because it is diverse. A farm with one crop has a big problem if something goes wrong with that crop. One with a hundred crops has a small problem if something goes wrong with one of them. Monoculture agriculture is a huge problem and obviously unsustainable. We have been growing food for thousands of years in a diverse manner and today the progressive farms are diversifying, recognising the economic security of having a diverse range of crops and products.

People are doing good things. The organic farming industry is growing in Australia Shops that specialise in organic food way are more accessible than in the past. It is true that we don’t have a high availability of sustainably grown food at a good price but people should either grow their own or develop a better local organic food industry.

The Philippines is a good example of diversity. A lot of people only have 10-20 m² of garden and they grow all their food in it. This whole backyard ecology even controls insect predators and pests.

Nature is self-maintaining which is why diversity is so stable. When we try to force oversimplified solutions onto landscapes we are fighting nature and that takes an awful lot of work and energy.