Henry Thomas b.1971 (E.T.)
Jeffrey Alan Combs b. 1954 (Deep Space Nine)Angela Cartwright b. 1952 (Lost in Space)
Topol b. 1935 (Flash Gordon)
Margaret Tyzack b. 1931 died 25 June 2011 (2001, A Clockwork Orange)
Cliff Robertson b.1923 died 10 September 2011(Amazing Spider–Man)
Neil Hamilton b. 1899 died 24 September 1984 (Batman)
Several actors on the list today are best known for their work in genre, and in that group I would include the young man in the picture slot, Henry Thomas who played E.T.'s pal Elliott.
Many happy returns to the living.
Prediction: Homes will have inches deep "lakes" on the roof as a device for air conditioning.
Predictor: Popular Mechanics in 1928
Reality: We never got around to this. If you have 2500 square feet of roof surface, each inch of water adds about 1,000 pounds of weight, not inconsequential but not a deal breaker, either. The major problem I would imagine would be how much difficulty this would add to the mosquito abatement problem.
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plus, water on the roof would evaporate way too quickly, needing to be replenished constantly.
ReplyDeletemuch more effective is the current push toward planted roofs. Adds about the same weight as water, but it doesn't disappear; insulates the building and absorbs solar gain, helping to decrease the heat island effect in urban areas. Also gives the neighbors something nicer to look at.
at the least, flat roofs can be covered with light-colored roofing materials to avoid heat gain.
As an aside, many municipalities are now regulating allowable runoff from developments; you are only allowed to increase runoff rate by a certain amount, and anything over that should be detained on site.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few ways to do this, rain barrels, rain gardens and such; planted roofs are also effective.
But I've done a couple of flat roof buildings (and this is very typical for the large flat one story industrial buildings) with controlled outflow roof drains, that detain rainfall on the roof. essentially doing the same thing as shown, but eventually releasing the rain.
Obviously, the intent is very different; roof insulation below the rainwater negates any cooling effect. But from above, it would look pretty much the same.
It's nice to know that after the zombie apocalypse, someone will still be aware of environmentally conscious building methods.
Deletewe may be zombies, but we're not monsters....
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