739: The Traditional Technology Trap (2): More lessons from the Windcatchers of Yazd

As scientists we tend to view technology as a scientific system but in fact the success of a particular technology at a particular time may be rest less on its efficient performance and more about its ‘social’ relevance and impact. We now need to identify sustainable design investments for a very uncertain future of expanding populations, scarcer resources and climate change. The great windcatchers of Yazd are a zero carbon cooling technology, but because the high towers of Yazd grew too large during a period of economic boom and soaring social hubris these structures may survive less well than if they had been more modest in their design. This paper explains why the high towers of Yazd were built and reminds us that the sustainability stool has three legs, and if you loose one, the stool falls.