2007年VOA标准英语-University in Britain Promotes Environmentally

By Paul Burge
Nottingham, England
17 May 2007
 

The University of Nottingham in Britain is building an environmentally friendly research house  to promote the reduction of carbon emissions¹.  The aim is for the experimental house to serve as a future guide for environmentally friendly house building. For VOA News, Suzanne Chislett reports.

The shell of a metalic house, called C60, under construction

The shining metallic² shell of the house of the future: by 2050 all new houses in Britain could be built like this -- no bricks, no mortar³ but instead sheet steel, environmentally friendly concrete, and polystyrene.

It is part of a plan by the British government to make all new homes carbon neutral -- homes that do not have an impact on the environment.

The house is called “C60.” Students and staff at the University of Nottingham designed and built it. The new construction is intended to act as a future guide for environmentally friendly house-building, helping⁴ the British government meet its target to reduce carbon emissions in the United Kingdom by 60 percent by 2050.

After it is completed, staff and students plan to live and work in the three-story house, and monitor and control every aspect of day-to-day life, such as heating, lighting⁵, ventilation, energy and water.

Guillermo Guzman Dumont teaches architecture at the University of Nottingham. He designed the C60 house and he says the data from the project will have an impact on the design of future houses.

"There are very few cases in which monitoring, data of monitoring, is used to really make an impact on design,” he says. “We are using new technologies in terms of use of material and distribution of material. So we expect that this research will allow us to disseminate⁶ this to all the practicing architects we have around the country."

Not only will the C60 house be built from unconventional eco-friendly materials, it will also be packed with cutting edge technology – all designed to make the house carbon-neutral through its energy efficiency.For instance, using a rainwater tank on the roof, bathwater will be reused in the toilet, cutting water use by 70 percent.

The University insists all appliances and lighting will be low energy, cutting electricity use by 60 percent. The house has extra insulation⁷ as well to keep air heated deep under the basement from escaping. It is expected to cut heating bills by 70 percent.

More than 30 private sector⁸ companies are contributing expertise⁹ and materials to the project, including the roof, internal walls, rainwater management systems, windows, heating controls and air cooling.

A key component¹⁰ is the unique steel frame made by Stoneguard. Steel makers¹¹ use a lot of energy and their smokestacks look is if they spew a lot of carbon into the air. But managing director Mike Hinman says that, compared to other building materials such as concrete – even wood, steel has less of an overall impact.

"It's carbon friendly because you are using a very small amount of natural resources, or even manufactured materials. All those things you use to manufacture something uses carbons. So if you look at any other type of building there would be treble or quadruple the amount of material within the structure," says Hinman.

What is more, Stoneguard's managing director says the way the steel frame is insulated greatly reduces energy consumption once the house is built.  

But it is not just private companies involved in the C60 project. Architecture students at the University of Nottingham are fully¹² involved in every aspect of construction and development of the house. Lucelia Rodrigues is one of them.

"A lot of students have been working here and we've been actually building everything. Even digging the holes in my case because of building the pipe system around the house and placing the panels together and measuring everything. It's really hands-on work."

It may have started as a teaching project, but the technology that is coming together under the roof of the C60 house may form the basis for the future of energy efficient homes in the UK

1 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

2 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

3 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 disseminate   

v.散布；传播

参考例句：

• We should disseminate science and promote the scientific spirit.普及科学知识，弘扬科学精神。
• We sincerely welcome all countries to disseminate their languages in China.我们真诚地欢迎世界各国来华推广本国语言。

7 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

10 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。