Dr. Patrick Chesney, an agriculture and environment specialist, said that if climate change continues at its current rates, Guyana will experience shorter, more intense rains during rainy seasons, and dryer, longer droughts.
He also said that the sea level is projected to rise by about one meter, which does not bode well for Guyana’s coast, which is already below the current sea level at high tide.
He was speaking as part of a diverse panel during the 21st installment of the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen and Tain Talks, which took place on Wednesday night at the Pegasus Hotel.
The theme of the event was `Green Building for Resilient Future Cities.’
Chesney holds various portfolios, including Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Guyana Protected Areas Trust, and Guyana’s Representative on the Board of Governors for the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre.
Chesney said that Guyana can expect extreme weather events with these changes, including heavy run off and flash floods during rainy seasons, and severe droughts during the dry seasons. He also said that Guyana can be expected to experience about 7 percent to 9 percent less precipitation annually than what it currently experiences.
Resilience to salt water
Chesney said that while rising ocean levels will lead to overtopping and flooding, which are problems in their own regard, the resilience of machinery and infrastructure, including drains, to salt water will be tested. He also said that traditional lands used to produce important crops, including rice and vegetables will be tested to produce under those conditions.
The situation is made worse he said, by the fact that Guyana’s rivers run from North to South, and East to West, creating a prime setting for the collection of water, more so in the absence of adequate drainage facilities.
In these circumstances, Chesney said, Guyana must build storm drains which are capable of withstanding the corrosive effects of the salt water which will continue to penetrate sea defences.
He also said that as air temperatures continue to rise, Guyana must take care to build buildings with better ventilation. He said that given Guyana’s geographical location, a coastal city on South America’s northwestern shoulder, it is in a strategic place to receive good quality air, and should adopt architectural designs which include practical ventilation.
He also said that Guyana should prioritise the planting of palm, plantain and banana trees, as these water-loving species absorb a lot of water, and have other beneficial effects.
Chesney said that whatever mechanisms are implemented to address climate change must be monitored, evaluated, and if necessary, modified, to ensure that Guyana continues to adapt to the implications of climate change.
Sustainable and Building
Dr. Anna Perreira, a lecturer at UG with a background in several fields, including Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning and Design, and Construction Engineering and Management, said that Guyana must move toward the construction of what she referred to as “green buildings”.
Perreira adverted to a 2018 report from the World Building Council which said that the amount of air conditioning (AC) units in the world have increased by 25% since 2010, so that there are currently around 1.6 billion units worldwide. This, she says, is an indication of how much hotter the word has become and also the amount of additional energy man is using to keep cool.
Buildings which are capable of keeping us cool while conserving energy, she said, – Green buildings – are therefore needed.
By definition, she explained, a green building is one which reduces or eliminates negative, and maximises the positive implications of climate change. Such buildings, she said, reduce energy and water usage, are powered by renewable energy, and reduce contributions to pollution. She also said that the concept of green buildings includes reusing aspects of demolished buildings which are fit to be reused, as opposed to discarding all materials from a demolished building.
Perreira said that ethical and sustainable materials ought to be used in construction. Toward this end, she said, systems should be set up where persons can trace building materials to their producers, so as to allow persons to purchase only from person with environmentally friendly practices.
She also mentioned that when building, consideration must be given to how the location and other factors can negatively impact the building.
Ventilation, she added, is a factor that tends to be overlooked too often. Perreira said that some of the older roof designs in Guyana were built with proper ventilation in mind. The high rise roofs with windows at both sides of the structure allowed for hot air in those buildings to rise, and be carried out of the structure by the air that would enter and exit through the two windows.
Perreira suggested that roofs today seem to be selected and constructed solely based on aesthetics, which does not bode well either for the environment, or the inhabitants of the building.
She added that such considerations are not just better for the environment, but augur well for the state of mind and health of inhabitants, as there are certain illnesses, and depressed states which are directly linked to poor buildings designs, and poor choice of materials.
Concrete
Perreira also said that Guyanese should start to consider sustainable substitutes to concrete, such as wood. She also recommended that people consider moving away from traditional tiles, to cork tiles, which she says are better for the environment.
Regulation and updated curriculum
Perreira also cited the need to establish a Green Building Council, models of which she said exist across the world. Such Councils, she said, would be in charge of developing specifications in accordance with which new buildings must be built. She also mentioned the need to promulgate laws and policies to regulate architects and persons involved in the construction industry, such as contractors and construction workers.
Perreira also lamented the fact that despite Guyana’s push toward a Green State Development Strategy (GSDS), the curriculums at the UG are devoid of programmes with sustainability built into them.
Regarding the GSDS itself, Perreira says she had looked through the document, and has not located any proposed strategy which specifically addresses sustainable and green buildings. This, she said, needs to be addressed.
Dr. Norman Munroe, a Professor in the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Department at Florida University, shared that in Australia, green buildings have slashed carbon emissions by 62 percent, while reducing water usage by 51 percent.
He noted that while the construction costs of Green designs tend to be higher than traditional designs, the costs are recouped from operations and maintenance savings. Breaking the figures down, he said that around 15 percent of the cost goes to construction, while 85 percent of the costs go toward operations and maintenance.
He also iterated that these designs have a smaller carbon footprint, and actually tend to have a 10 percent higher appraisal value than regular buildings. Sharing other benefits, Perreira said that the construction of Green buildings contributed $23.45 billion to Canada’s GDP, and 300,000 full time jobs.
