ABSTRACT
Water is becoming an increasingly contentious topic, both environmentally and politically, as climate change has become indisputable. Until, we have managed to feed the world’s growing population, in large part due to the achievements of the ‘green revolution’ in high-yielding seed varieties, pioneered by the agronomist Norman Borlaug. Rethinking our waste-water treatment methods could help to restore the fertility of our soils and re-plumbing buildings and cities with energy-optimised systems could deliver further increases in resource efficiency. Similar strategies could be used more extensively for buildings in hot climates: opaque or reflective structures that provide shade and could, double as water collectors. Water storage in buildings is, almost without exception, in the form of rigid tanks, often built underground, with considerable cost and embodied carbon. The Chihuahua Desert cactus has evolved water-harvesting clusters of very fine conical spines.
