INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

HOW MUCH HIGH-TECH DOES IT NEED?

Our author Tina Kammer asks: Where is the person when Alexa and Co. control our existence? Doesn’t nature also offer sufficient solutions for efficiency, time saving and resource minimization?

Which girl names are currently under discussion? Right: Greta and Alexa. Countless Alexas now populate our rooms and make our lives easier: there is no need to go from the sofa to the light switch as soon as Alexa has moved in with us. “She” moves the blinds, heats up, orders pizza and much more without us – apart from our voice – having to raise anything. And even if we don’t talk to her, she is always there, listens carefully and guards us and our house. Where does more technology take us? Does this serve us or we? Do the toilet and car seats have to be heated by app? Do we have to make ourselves comfortable under patio heaters in winter? Do I have to be informed by mobile phone if something falls into my letterbox slot?

HOW SMART IS SMART?
For people with, for example, motor impairments or visual impairments, the wonderful help for coping with everyday life may be very supportive. Some applications want to promote sustainable coexistence, for example by leading us to shops that distribute their expired food or by linking neighbors and encouraging them to share. We hope for efficiency, time savings, and world improvement, but we have never dealt with resources, such as electricity, with less concern. The countless clicks, searches, searches, connections, streaming produce more CO 2 than ever. And who are we when the plug is pulled? For example, what happens in the much-noticed new Cube building in Berlin in the event of a power failure? From booking the workspace, to the light and temperature conditions and ordering food to finding a parking space, everything in this “smart building” is done via an app. We have relied on for a long time Functioning technology, bit by bit we are still dependent on it.

Where’s the man in full technology? How does he feel in this environment, in which well-being, haptics and a sense of security do not come first? Where does extra space have to be created for technology and where does the dismantling of smart buildings lead to a flood of hazardous waste?
Although we have now understood that traditional, original construction methods with natural and renewable building materials still meet our current living standards and ensure aesthetics, comfort and healthy indoor air. One forward, two back.

We can take nature as an example, it already contains solutions for energy supply, temperature control, resource minimization and many other challenges that we face today. We will not be able to carry out our conventional design indefinitely, because we are simply running out of material! We should increasingly turn to circular construction methods and gain experience in order to solve the major problem areas.

RETURN THANKS TO PROGRESS
So far, Alexa and all the right toys and accessories have only been of limited help to us in the task Greta has given society to preserve and keep our planet habitable. But no low without high and vice versa. We need technology in everyday life, it has now become practically essential to life in Europe. But we have to distinguish between gadgets whistling for the climate, which become pure material battles, and useful things that actually support us, be it in everyday life or medical. In addition, resource-saving handling and CO2 emissions firmly in view, then the two dissimilar women Alexa and Greta may even become something like friends.