ABSTRACT
On a summer day, the interior not overheat and peaks at 26.2◦C environmental temperature, not that the builders would have understood that at all. Note the evenly warm conditions only range between 22.3◦C and 26.2◦C. We have no reason to think that weather was significantly different in 1078 to today, apart from being told that today is warmer due to our use of hydrocarbon fuels. What has modern design learned? Obviously we design and build much faster in modern times as compared to ancient builders, but our glass-ridden, lightweight steel and concrete towers are uninhabitable without mechanical cooling and mechanical ventilation. Have we improved on the ancients’ work? Have a look and visit buildings of 1000 years of age. All buildings require maintenance or they fall down, so there is no change there. We might conclude that modern life has seen a retrograde step in the design of buildings and led us to burn more hydrocarbon fuels that emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which leads to climate change, global warming and a need to reduce our dependence on such fuels. What do you think?
