Gina Rae Mitchell

The Future of Buildings, Transportation, and Power by Roger Duncan and Michael E Webber | Spotlight Book Blog Tour

Thank you to Mr. Duncan & iRead Book Tours for providing me the information for this tour.

The Future of Buildings, Transportation and Power by Roger Duncan, Michael E Webber
Published by DW Books on August 9, 2020
Genres: Enviromental, Non-fiction
Format: eBook, Hardcover, Paperback
Pages: 290

Most people have fantasized about stepping into the future, if only for a moment. Will there be flying cars? Will buildings be sleek, smart, and clean, or will they be just one more dysfunctional component of a decaying infrastructure? Will there be robots everywhere? Will we have clean energy and clear skies or polluted air and water?

The evolution of buildings, transportation, and power will determine how our future looks and feels, and in this book, Roger Duncan and Michael Webber argue the Energy Efficiency Megatrend will shape our future technology. Buildings and vehicles will evolve into sentient-appearing machines such that we will be living, working, and moving about inside robots. Buildings may develop personalities and the transportation system will have any manner of vehicle available at a moment's notice. This complex, interconnected system will be powered by the clean and efficient conversion of fuels and energy flows that surround us.

Duncan is a former Austin City Council member and former General Manager of Austin Energy, the city's municipal electric utility.

Webber is the Josey Centennial Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas, and Chief Science and Technology Officer at ENGIE, a multi-national energy services, and infrastructure company.

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The Future of Buildings, Transportation, and Power by Roger Duncan and Michael E Webber

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Interview with Roger Duncan

How did you do research for your book?

My book is about future technology trends in buildings,
transportation, and power. I had to keep up with trends through
magazines, journals, newspapers, and internet posts in those fields. This
ranged from industry magazines like IEEE Spectrum to new discoveries
that would be reported in the Wall Street Journal and the New York
Times. It was quite fun to keep up with the latest advances, although
challenging to be constantly updating the manuscript with new
footnotes as things changed.

In your book, you made a reference to the Energy Efficiency Megatrend. How did you come up with this idea?

As Michael and I looked at the role of technology in shaping the future
of buildings, our transportation system, and the power grid, we realized
that technology always progressed towards increasing efficiency. We
are always trying to convert some form of matter or energy to another
form with less material, less motion, and in less time. We called this the
Energy Efficiency Megatrend and noted that it is the overarching trend
in all technology development.

What made you write a book about the future of buildings, transportation, and power?

About 75% of all the energy conversions we make in our economy are
to construct and operate buildings, move people and goods from one
location to another, and generate electricity. If you look out your
window and mentally remove all the buildings, vehicles, roads, and
power lines – you are back to green fields. These three sectors really
are our urban environment. So focusing on the technology
developments in these areas will determine what our future will look
and feel like, and how we will live and work in the future.

What genre do you write and why?

I write non-fiction, focusing on science and technology. I have long felt
that technology shapes our culture and civilization more than policy
and politics. And although I thoroughly enjoy good fiction, I simply do
not have the ability to create a new world and write realistic dialogue. I
greatly respect those who can take me away to another place, but that
is not me. However, throughout my career, I have been fairly good at
noticing what technology trends are taking place and how those trends
are going to develop and change our world.

Where do you write?

I have a “sunroom” in the back of our house lined with windows, and it
is a great place to work. Right outside the back door is a koi pond and
waterfall that we created from a small swimming pool. It is a great
place to take a break and collect my thoughts whenever I am stuck or
want to develop a new idea. My wife is a journalist and she has a small
office at the other end of the house and it works out well for both of us
to work from home.

What is your writing schedule?

I like to write in the mornings. I usually meditate when I first get up,
and ideas sometimes come during the meditation. After breakfast, I
write and expand on any new ideas, and then pick up on whatever
writing goal I have set for the day. I try to end the day by organizing
what I want to work on the next day so that I do not sit down at the
computer not knowing what I want to do. I find it is always a good idea
to end one day with something incomplete so that I have a starting
point for the next day, and have my papers organized to begin again.

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Buy the Book Here:

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This book is also available on Barnes & Noble and IndieBound.

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