中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
人類社會的發展始終是要付出代價的，而在過去幾百年的快速現代化進程中，人口過剩、流動遷徙等因素造成人類的生存空間也在不斷變化調整。近年來，隨著房價的急劇攀升，金融氣候的莫測不定，我們對房屋面積大小的期許也更是在縮水。這也激發了人們對自我居住空間的全新思考，隨之而來的是一股顛覆傳統住房觀念的時尚安居新潮。倫敦集裝箱城、日本“膠囊旅館”和北京“膠囊公寓”等經濟實惠的居住理念的興起，便充分說明了如今我們需要的只不過是像蝸牛殼一樣的容身之所而已。不過，正如本文作者所言，居所的存在并不一定和環保有沖突，低碳的綠色家園也日益受到人們的關注。相信人類可以在環境和需求之間找到一個平衡點的同時做到蝸居又安居，舒適又環保，何樂而不為呢？
By Lisa Pollman
曾真 譯
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Ever dreamed about living in a mansion, surrounded by beautiful objects and the most modern and time-saving conveniences that money could buy? What if you wanted all of these things but your conscience as a world citizen was such that you could not justify the negative impact that having such a home would have upon the environment and the world? What kinds of choices would you have and how much of a difference could you make? Currently, a range of options are becoming more readily available worldwide for eco-living. Throughout Europe, there are various types of sustainable housing solutions being utilized today. In London, prefabricated steel shipping containers are used in a variety of applications, such as commercial businesses, schools and community centers and live/work spaces. The Scandinavian company Ikea has set up energy efficient ready-made homes for sale in Germany. In addition to more sustainable housing options, hotels such as the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen are offering guests an opportunity to earn free meal vouchers by producing electricity on specially adapted exercise bikes. In Asia, where space has often been associated with luxury and prestige, ideas such as the famous “capsule hotels” in Japan are now in vogue in heavily congested cities like Beijing and have been modified to include apartments. Hotels in New Zealand are outfitted with dual-flush toilets to conserve water and one hotel in Christchurch includes rooms with no windows but a full compliment of light therapy technology to offset the lack of natural sunlight. Other hotels make it a practice of letting their clientele choose to have their linens cleaned with every-other day or weekly service, to minimize excessive water consumption. Daily lifestyle choices and habits also are an important way that people throughout the world are working to minimize their carbon footprint. According to an article in the China Daily (12/03/2009), an online group called the “Low-Carbon Tribe,” is actively promoting a lifestyle in a “relaxed and fashionable way,” where members can cut their energy usage by modifying the choices they make—such as taking the stairs instead of elevators and utilizing public transportation instead of driving to work each day. Still others are making choices which change what and how they eat. Eating locally grown foods and organic products has become both feasible and fashionable with organizations such as Canada’s 100 Mile Diet, leading the way. Communal villages, such as the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in the United States, are taking it one step farther by combining the concepts of an inclusive sustainable lifestyle within a small, rural community. These lifestyle choices reflect who we are and what we believe to be true. Some feel it just as important to live in the moment as it is to live with a vision or plan for the future. In the not too distant past, many people viewed success as having the highest paying job, the most expensive car and the largest home but times have changed with the collapse of world economy. Today, many view those superficial desires as greedy and simply out of touch with the rest of humanity. Arguably, one of the most significant choices for many Americans is his/her home—where the majority of a person’s or family’s income and time is spent. Currently in the United States, there seems to be movement away from the McMansion style of home to smaller, more thoughtful and sustainable structures. Perhaps the idea of “bigger is better” and “you can’t take it with you” are now becoming outdated and outmoded ideologies—especially with the near collapse of worldwide financial structures. Green Construction and Zero Energy homes are now coming of age in a very uncertain and unstable economic climate. With dwindling (and growing ever more costly) natural resources and a surge in the interest of eco-lifestyles, the business of remodeling or building “green” is on the increase—despite the sometimes higher cost of eco-friendly supplies and the challenge of procuring and locating one hundred percent green products when building. A Zero Energy home uses various materials and cutting-edge technology to keep energy consumption low or “zero”, while utilizing sustainable products both inside and outside. Some popular ways to produce energy is to install solar panels, utilize Thermomax heat (solar heated vacuum tubes) and harness wind power. Sustainable components include wood that grows rapidly (such as bamboo and alder) and recycled materials (such as glass and salvaged lumber). In addition, some homes are utilizing roof gardens to capture water which can be used later for irrigation and water supply around the property. The interesting part of green construction is that not only are the components and their sustainability measured, but also their performance. For example, heating a home using solar panels becomes much less effective if the windows in the house are not properly insulated or treated to keep the heat in and the UV rays out. In this way, an energy efficient house is then judged by the sum of its parts, not just one component. So, in order to build a zero energy or efficient green home, many details, much experience and some ingenuity is necessary. Another fascinating thing about green homes is their link with nature and the positive effect they have on living organisms—both human, and otherwise. Where many homes are often built and finished (paints, carpeting, misc. furnishings etc) with toxic or chemical materials, green homes are actually often built and constructed with products that are of nature or less allergenic. Instead of becoming a dead zone—a place where humans remain separate and disconnected from nature, the space becomes something which embraces and nurtures nature. With all of these positive attributes concerning eco-living, will the green construction movement and a low carbon lifestyle gain popularity and become the predominant trend of the future? For certain, as a new world financial structure struggles to emerge and a dramatic decrease in natural resources continues to plague our planet, we will continue to search for solutions—and hopefully they’ll be ones which place our environment as well as our humanity in a place of prominence. |
住在一座豪宅里，室內的陳設極盡精美，還配備著錢能買來的最先進也最省時的設施，這樣的生活，你有沒有夢想過呢？想象一下，你的確想得到這一切，同時又覺得自己是個世界公民，不能接受這樣一座房子帶給環境和世界的負面影響，這樣的話，你又該怎么辦呢？你能夠有一些什么樣的選擇，又能夠起到多大的作用呢？ 目前，一系列的環保生活方式正在變得越來越容易實現，在全球范圍內都是如此。在整個歐洲，各種可持續住房解決方案如今正在得以應用。在倫敦，預制鋼板集裝箱在商業場所、學校、社區活動中心和居住 / 工作空間中都得到了廣泛采用。北歐的宜家公司也已開始在德國銷售節能的組裝房屋；可持續住房的種類越來越多，除此之外，哥本哈根皇冠酒店之類的旅館也在向顧客提供贏取免費餐券的機會，鼓勵他們去騎一種特別改制的健身腳踏車，以達到發電的目的。 在亞洲，空間往往彌足珍貴。日本的“膠囊旅館”聞名遐邇，這類概念如今也開始在北京之類嚴重擁擠的城市里流行起來，還有了“膠囊公寓”的新發展。新西蘭的旅店用雙沖水模式的馬桶來達到節約用水的目的，克賴斯特徹奇市的一家旅店更是配備了一些沒有窗戶的房間，自然光的缺失可以通過大顯身手的光療技術來得到彌補。還有一些酒店定下了規矩，讓客戶選擇每隔一天或是一周清洗一次床單，為的是盡量減少水資源的消耗。 日常生活方式與生活習慣的一些改變也是世界各地的人們減輕碳排放的一個重要方式。《中國日報》（12/03/2009）上的一篇文章說，有一個名叫“低碳族”的網絡群體正在積極倡導一種“輕松時尚的生活方式”。該群體的成員會通過改變個人選擇來降低能源消耗——比如說，用走樓梯來取代坐電梯，每天上班的時候不開私家車，改乘公共交通工具。 還有一些人的選擇是改變自己的飲食結構和習慣。對于加拿大“百哩飲食”之類的先鋒組織而言，食用本地出產的食品和有機食物不僅可行，而且時尚。在美國，“跳舞兔子環保村”之類的公共村落在這方面還要走得更遠，它們將包羅萬象的可持續生活方式理念融入了一座小型的鄉村社區。 這些生活方式上的選擇反映了我們的本質和信念。有的人覺得，未雨綢繆、計劃長遠的生活與及時行樂同樣重要。不久以前，很多人還認為成功就意味著擁有高薪工作、開豪華汽車、住豪宅。不過，隨著世界經濟的崩潰，時代風氣也發生了改變。今時今日，不少人都覺得，這些膚淺的欲望不光是貪婪的表現，還意味著與其他人群的徹底脫節。 大概對于許多美國人而言，最重要的抉擇之一無疑是住所——一個人或家庭的絕大部分收入和時間都會投入其中。當前，美國似乎興起了一股潮流，那就是搬出豪宅，住進更舒適體貼的小型可持續建筑中。也許，“越大就越好”和“今朝有酒今朝醉”之類的想法已經日漸過時——尤其是在全球金融結構近乎瓦解的情況下。 在極其不明朗、極其不穩定的經濟形勢中，綠色建筑和零能耗住宅正在日趨成熟。隨著自然資源不斷減少（其價格也不斷上揚），人們對環保生活方式的興趣也日益高漲，這樣一來，改建和興建“綠色”住宅這一行業便逐漸興盛起來——盡管有些時候，環保材料的成本更高，在修建過程中搜尋和獲取絕對的綠色產品也不是一件易事。 采用各種材料和尖端技術之后，零能耗住宅可以將能源消耗降到最低，甚至有可能做到真正的零能耗，與此同時，建筑的內部和外部采用的都是可持續能源產品。常用的一些能源生成途徑包括安裝太陽能電池板、采用Thermomax集熱工具（太陽能加熱真空管）和利用風力。可持續建材則包括能快速成材的植物（如竹子和榿木）和回收材料（如玻璃和浮木）。此外，還有一些住宅會利用屋頂花園來儲水，既可以供日后灌溉之用，還可以為住戶提供水資源。 綠色家園的有趣之處在于，需要考慮的不僅是建筑的各部分結構及其可持續性，還包括這些東西的實際性能。舉個例子來說，假如住宅的窗戶沒有進行恰當的隔熱處理，或是不能在防止熱量散失的同時阻擋紫外線，利用太陽電池板取暖的效力就會大大減弱。從這個角度來說，節能住宅的性能就應該通過整體而不是部件來進行衡量。因此，要想構筑零能耗住宅或是高效綠色家園，你就必須關注細節，具備豐富的經驗，同時還得有一定的獨創性。 綠色家園還有一個迷人之處，那就是它與自然的關系，以及它對生命有機體——包括人類和其他生物——所產生的正面積極的影響。不少房子的建造和裝修材料（油漆、地毯、組合家具等等）都含有害物質和化學成分，綠色家園則往往是用自然或致敏性較低的產品建造而成。前者會讓室內空間成為一片死亡地帶——一個讓人類孤零零地與自然隔絕開的地方，而后者則讓室內空間變成擁抱和滋養自然的樂土。 既然環保的生活方式擁有這么多的優點，綠色建筑運動與低碳生活方式會不會受到歡迎，成為未來的主導潮流呢？人們正在奮力構建新的世界金融體系，自然資源的急劇減少也還在繼續折磨著我們的星球，毋庸置疑的是，我們還會繼續尋求解決方案——但愿未來的種種方案能把環境和人性都擺到非常重要的位置。 （來源：英語學習雜志）
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Vocabulary: prefabricated （用預制材料或零件）組裝（房屋）的，預制的 Scandinavian 斯堪的納維亞的。斯堪的納維亞（Scandinavia）是北歐一地區，包括瑞典、挪威和丹麥等北歐國家 voucher 優惠券 Christchurch 克賴斯特徹奇市，是位于新西蘭南島東岸的一座港市 carbon footprint 碳足跡，指個人或企業的“碳耗用量”，這個概念以形象的“足跡”為比喻，說明每個人都在天空不斷增加的溫室氣體中留下了自己的痕跡 McMansion 豪宅，公館 Thermomax 英國著名的太陽能產品研發和制造公司 nurture 滋養，養育 |
