I don't know about anyone else, but I'm glad that weather's over. Watching the mercury rise over 100°F is fine while you're sitting on a beach, only a couple of steps away from a dip in the Med – but it's a very different story down there on the District line. Commuters were told to carry water, dress appropriately and only use the emergency system while in a station. It was like preparing to cross the Anvil of the Sun, only with fewer camels.

Of course the soaring temperatures produced a rash of newspaper articles on global warming and warnings that we'd see more summers like this one. In many ways then, our weather has been a timely reminder to the public that worldwide temperature problems aren't going away.

And recently America got a taste of life without electricity when nuclear power stations went offline, cutting supplies to one of the busiest and most populated areas in the developed world. It's to the credit of the people there that the situation didn't escalate into chaos and civil unrest.

It seems as if the world is getting a wake-up call. While our government is one of the best when it comes to making commitments to energy efficiency and sustainable solutions, it just isn't enough. We need to be more radical and more forward thinking – and there needs to be a greater sense of urgency about solving the problem before we're all in the dark and simmering in the rising temperatures.

This month's BSj looks at ways in which engineers are trying to educate clients and organisations about sustainability. We also examine renewable energy projects in the rest of Europe where they seem far more willing to be radical about their approach to new ideas. We can't afford to be complacent. We should be using every scrap of 'free' energy that we can, and cutting out every minute of wasted energy use.

After the summer of 2003, I don't think anyone should need convincing about why we need to do this. We just need to show them how – and quickly.

Source

Building Sustainable Design