AESTHETICS
AND ENERGY
How Aesthetics Impact Energy
Efficiency and Conservation
By Dawn Lee
• “... aesthetic experience of the world at large is seemingly very
different from the aesthetic experience of art. In the former case,
unlike the latter, appreciators are confronted by, if not intimately and
totally immersed in, objects of appreciation that impinge upon all
their senses, are constantly in motion, are limited in neither time nor
space and are of a non-predetermined nature and meaning.
Appreciators are within and among objects of appreciation and their
risk is to achieve aesthetic appreciation of those objects. Moreover,
appreciation must seemingly be achieved without the aid of frames,
the guidance of artistic traditions or the direction of artists and their
designs.” – Environmental Aesthetician Allen Carlson
Overview
• What is Aesthetics?
• Aesthetics in Human Culture
• The “Art of Living”
• Skilled Consumption
• Underconsumption of Energy Efficient Methods
• Quality of Life
• Aesthetics of Ecology
• Examples of Aesthetics in Energy Efficiency/Conservation
•
•
•
•
Wind Energy
Solar Power
Historical Preservation
Transportation
• Further Questions/Issues
What is Aesthetics?
• Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art,
beauty, and taste, with the creation and appreciation of beauty
• It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional
values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste
• Applied Aesthetics is the application of the branch of philosophy of
aesthetics to cultural constructs
• Some examples that may be applicable to energy efficiency
• Architecture and Interior Design
• Industrial Design
• Urban Life
• Functional Aesthetics is based on an appreciation for and satisfaction
with the practical function or functional requirements
• This is oftentimes viewed as a completely separate from traditional aesthetics,
but there is actually more overlap between the two spheres
The Importance of Aesthetics in Human Culture
• Creative activity and artistic
expression are the most evident
marks of culture
• Some anthropologists argue that
the universality of artistic behavior
suggest that aesthetic expression
and appreciation are inherent to
our species
• Lance Hosey argues that embedded
in concepts of ecology and
sustainability is an aesthetic
mandate- an imperative toward
beauty, pleasure, and joy
The Barn at Fallingwater
• Energy Efficient Methods:
• Geothermal heat pump for heating and
cooling needs
• Sensors that shut off lights when a room
is empty and when sunlight is sufficient
to light a room
• The facility recycles gray water
• It also employs low flow fixtures that
allow it to use less water to perform the
same tasks
• This barn in western Pennsylvania
lies on land adjacent to Frank Lloyd
Wright's famous Fallingwater house
(a structure acclaimed for its artistic
appeal and use of the natural
landscape)
• In keeping with Fallingwater's
brilliant integration of nature and
civilization, the Western
Pennsylvania Conservatory (WPC)
uses the barn as a both a forum and
example for visitors to learn about
green building
• Originally built in the 19th century,
the WPC had the barn renovated to
become sustainable as a way to
reflect their mission to connect the
community to nature
The Art of Living: The Behavior of People in
Developed Economies
• “… a stationary condition of capital and population implies no stationary
state of human improvement. There would be as much scope as ever for all
kinds of mental culture, and moral and social progress; as much room for
improving the Art of Living, and much more likelihood of its being improved,
when minds ceased to be engrossed by the art of getting on.” Principles of
Political Economy with some of their Applications to Social Philosophy by J.
S. Mill (7th Ed.)
• What is “the Art of Living” (as opposed to “the art of getting on”)?
• How do developed economies compare to developing economies?
• What are the different priorities for each?
• Hoes does this concept affect appeals to energy efficiency?
• What are the methods most likely to succeed?
• J. B. Schor argues that pushing for lifestyles based on environmental or moral grounds
are less likely to change behavior than offering the alternative of a higher-quality life
The Art of Living: An Alternative View
• Virginia Postrel offers an alternative view to the art of living
• Rather than focusing on “the art of living” as an improvement to the
quality of life, Postrel emphasizes that aesthetics are an inherent part of
human culture and ever present in all stages of development
• “Human beings do not wait for aesthetics until they have full stomachs and a
roof that doesn’t leak… They do not pursue aesthetic needs ‘only when basic
needs have been satisfied… Given a modicum of stability and sustenance,
people enrich the look and feel of their lives through ritual, personal
adornment, and decorated objects. Poor people create the body decoration
that illustrates National Geographic. Poor people built the cathedrals of
Europe and developed the sand paintings of Tibet. Poor people turned
baskets and pottery into decorative art. Poor people invented paints and
dyes, jewelry and cosmetics.... These artifacts do not reflect societies focused
only on ‘lower-order’ needs. Aesthetics is not a luxury, but a universal human
desire.”
Skilled Consumption (T. Scitovsky)
• Consumption is an inevitable and ongoing everyday process
• Scitovsky maintained that the problem of material
overconsumption is rooted in the lack of skilled consumption
• Acquiring consumption skills in part requires motivating operations
• What is skilled consumption?
• Without acquisition of consumption skills, people generally fall into a
pattern of engaging in resource-intensive work to consume resourceintensive material goods
• What are some motivating operations that may help people to
acquire adequate consumption skills?
• How does a concern for aesthetics affect such motivating
operations?
• What about concerns regarding the quality of life?
• How are these concerns interrelated?
Underconsumption of Energy Efficient Methods
• Although there are a plethora of existing energy efficient methods
available, there is a general underconsumption of such methods
• Why does such underconsumption exist?
• How prevalent are such methods in mainstream culture?
• Is there a long term tangible value in these methods? (other than the actual
energy efficiency itself)
• E.g., Is there resell value in an energy efficient home?
• How do we increase the accessibility and effectiveness of such
energy efficient methods?
Quality of Life
• An improvement in the quality of day to
day life is more likely to increase such
consumption than merely an appeal to
environmentalism (in the absence of
immediate negative harm)
• What is the difference between
improvements to the quality of life and
aesthetics? Is there an interconnection
or overlap between the two concepts?
• How do aesthetics impact the quality of
day to day life?
• Are aesthetics necessary for a certain
standard of living?
• Look at the extremes: opulence on one end
and barren on the other
• Where do most people fall on this spectrum?
The Cube House
“Earth Friendly” Aesthetic Clichés
• Many attempts to merge style and
sustainability have become aesthetic
clichés- “earth friendly” should look
“earthy”
•
•
•
•
•
Hemp shirts
Rattan furniture
Unbleached paper
Wood-pulp walls
Wheat-board cabinets
• Forbes Magazine summed up such
aesthetics in 2010: “Eco-fashion conjures
up images of burlap sacks.”
• Many architects scornfully refer to
conspicuously green buildings (scrap
metal, solar panels, grass roofs, etc.) as
“green bling”
Designer Burlap
“Green Bling”
Aesthetics of Ecology
• Lance Hosey argues that sustainability should have style, but not
become a style
• Designers shouldn’t have an ecological aesthetic, but rather an
Aesthetics of Ecology
• A set of principles and mechanics for making design more responsive and
responsible, environmentally, socially and economically
• Would an aesthetic of ecology help to promote consumption of energy
efficient methods?
• Would people be more willing to consume such methods if such methods did not
have a distinct “sustainable” or “green” style?
• What about those people for whom such a style is desirable?
• How is this style generally perceived? Is there a general like or dislike?
Wind Energy
• What are the aesthetic properties of wind turbines (as they become
part of a wholly new landscape)?
• There is debate as to whether an obstruction to natural beauty is
worth the power that such wind turbines generate
• Appeals to functional aesthetics fail when addressing how a wind farm is
destructive to the wholeness of the landscape- the deep aesthetic
satisfaction of the land
• Cape Wind project, Nantucket Bay, with its beaches and shoals and
marine ecosystems, is a center of living activity
• Industrially-produced structure seldom has this quality of being alive
Solar Power
• Some people appreciate solar panels (in an unaltered form) either
for what the panels represent or for their unique industrial beauty
• However, for others, such panels are bulky, unattractive, or do not
conform with HOA covenants
• Alternatives to solar panels exist
• Aesthetically Pleasing Options in Solar Power
• Solar Shingles
• Photovoltaic Slates
• Solar Canopies
Historical Preservation
• There can be a conflict between a
push for energy efficiency in
buildings and historical
preservation
• How can historically significant
buildings be preserved while
updating such buildings to conform
to more modern energy efficiency
standards?
• Some solutions
• Weatherization
• Updating features with aesthetically
pleasing (and/or historically accurate)
fixtures
Southminster Presbytarian
Church
Transportation: The Prius
• 2004 Prius
• Prior to the 2004 Prius, efficient hybrids effectively hid beneath the hood.
Essentially identical to other models, there was no unique design feature
that was unique to hybrid vehicles
• Although there was some criticism regarding the design of the 2004 Prius,
it was the identifiable shape that helped to increase its marketability
• Is this unique shape a bonus? Or is it preferable to drive a hybrid vehicle
that is virtually undetectable (aesthetically)?
Transportation: Bicycles
• An alternative to motor vehicles is the bicycle, particularly within
cities where biking between destinations is feasible
• Safety Considerations
• While as there is increasing concern regarding the safety of motor vehicles
(and policy enforcement- e.g., seatbelt laws), bikers are unique in that they
are overwhelmingly aware of the dangers of not wearing a helmet, but
generally choose not to wear one
• Are there personal aesthetic considerations regarding the wearing of a
helmet?
• The Invisible Bicycle Helmut
Further Questions/Issues
• How do we create policy that can effectively address the
underconsumption of existing energy efficient methods?
• Can aesthetics play a role in devising such a policy?
• What are some ways to change the behavioral patterns of societal
underconsumption?
• What are some motivating factors?
• Should aesthetics be a “second thought”? Or vice versa- Should
energy efficiency be a “second thought”?
• Is it more important to pioneer energy efficient methods (without regard
to aesthetics)?
• Or should be only try to incorporate energy efficiency as an afterthought to
aesthetic designs?
• What about Hosey’s idea about the Aesthetics of Ecology?
• Should aesthetics play a direct role in the design of energy efficient methods?
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!