Homes for a Changing Climate

Adapting Our Homes and Communities to Cope with the Climate of the 21st Century

Homes for a Changing Climate celebrates the collected wisdom of traditional and contemporary responses to the challenges of climate and illustrates the many ways in which houses can be designed, built, and adapted to cope with these challenges. At the beginning of the 21st century, the world finally woke up to the reality of climate change and began the arduous task of freeing itself from dependence on fossil fuels. But the time lag in the Earth's ecosystem is such that our best efforts to cut carbon today will make little difference to the changing climate of the next 30 years. As we work toward a secure, low-carbon future, we must also address the changes that are already taking place in the planet's climate. We must learn to live with higher temperatures, intense rainstorms, rising sea levels and prolonged drought. We must also confront the secondary impacts of climate change, especially on energy and food security. Across the world, communities have been living with such extremes for millennia. If we have the imagination to learn from others and rethink the ways we build and live together, we can face this unsettling future with confidence. This book draws on examples from across Europe—from the supervolcano of Thera to the 100mph winds of the Western Isles—and from cutting-edge eco-building projects in Britain. Based on the climate projections for the UK published by the Met Office in June 2009, the book combines inspiring case studies, striking photography, and practical advice. Homes for a Changing Climate is a book of imagination and hope in uncertain times.