LOW←TECH MAGAZINE English

How to Mount a Balcony Awning

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Kris,

I’ve been reading your website for quite a while. It’s one of my favourite blogs. Thank you for what you are doing!

We are currently experiencing a heat wave in Germany, so I drew inspiration from Low-tech Magazine’s article “How to Dress and Undress your Home” and built an awning on my balcony. I documented the process so that other readers can install one themselves.

The overall cost for my build was around 50 Euros, but you can do it much cheaper by using upcycled materials. It requires only a few tools to build, so almost anyone can reproduce it.

Required materials

Steel cable (or rope). I went with a 4 mm galvanized steel cable. I want the build to be sturdy and be able to withstand strong winds. A 3 mm cable would probably work as well. Warning: Some inexpensive steel cables have a plastic outer shell, which may reduce their strength due to the smaller diameter of the steel cable. For example, a 3mm cable would have a 2mm or 1.5mm steel core. You could also use rope instead of steel cable, which will be cheaper.
1 x turnbuckle
2 x cable thimbles
8 x cable clamps. There are different styles of clamps. The one I’ve chosen is also used in heavy construction.
1m petrol hose with 6mm inner diameter.
1m x 3m awning fabric. The distance between eyelets should be 50 cm.
7 carabiners. This number depends on the number of eyelets you have and the number of attachment points you will use.
Some paracord. It comes with the awning fabric, and I have no idea how long it was.

Image: Required materials. Photo: Dmitriy Kurochkin.

Required tools

Wrench or spanner for cable clamps
Something to cut the steel cable. Here are some options:

Metal chisel and hammer
Cable cutter
Hacksaw
Angle grinder
Hardware shops will cut the cable to the desired length

Source links

Building steps

Measuring

Image: The south-facing balcony. Photo: Dmitriy Kurochkin.

The required cable length is the distance between the posts plus one or one and a half meters. It’s better to have a little more cable than you need. It’s easy to cut extra wires, but it isn’t very easy to join cables if you don’t have enough. In my case, the distance is 3.8 m, and I used just under 5 m of cable.

Prepare the cable

The upper support for the awning consists of two pieces. The shorter piece is attached to the left post and has an eyelet. The longer piece is fixed to the right post and has a turnbuckle attached to the other end.

Tip: Wrap the area where you plan to cut the cable with electrical tape to prevent fraying. See this video.

The images below illustrate an example of how to use a thimble and cable clamps to secure the turnbuckle. You are probably fine using just one clamp, but for safety, I opted for two clamps. You should tighten the clamps very well until you see some deformation on the cable. Always place the loaded end of the wire on the base of the clamp and the free end on top of it.

The image at the bottom shows how the shorter piece of cable should look before the installation. The hose has two functions. It prevents damage to the posts and provides a perfect grip to avoid slipping. The image in the top right corner shows how the turnbuckle is attached to the longer piece of cable.

Image: Preparing the cable. Photo: Dmitriy Kurochkin.

At this point, I finished all the preparations I could do inside the house.

Assembling

Now it’s time to move outside and start final assembling. When tightening the cable around the post, leave some slack. You should be able to adjust the cable up and down to suit your needs later.

You need to unscrew the turnbuckle fully. There should be no tension on the cable between the posts. You should be able to get the hook on and off easily. Now, you are ready to position it as desired. Use the turnbuckle to put tension on the cable.

Image: Tightening the cable around the post. Photo: Dmitriy Kurochkin.

Fasten the fabric

Use carabiners on every top eyelet. You can use carabiners or rope to secure the bottom of the fabric to the railings.

Image: Fastening the fabric. Photo: Dmitriy Kurochkin.

Final result

I’m happy with the outcome. I can finally spend time on my balcony, even on sunny days. There was way too much sun in the summer as my balcony faced south.

Image: The mounted awning. Photo: Dmitriy Kurochkin.

Image: The folded awning. Photo: Dmitriy Kurochkin.

Image: The mounted awning. Photo: Dmitriy Kurochkin.

Retrospective

What went well?

Excellent protection from the sun, and I saved quite some money
The choice of materials was quite good in terms of quality
It’s easy to operate. It takes less than 30 seconds to fold and unfold it.
The build is very sturdy and can withstand wind. It handles medium-strength wind without any issues. I’m waiting for a strong wind to test.

What can be improved?

I purchased an awning fabric that was slightly too small. It would be better to have a 1.5m x 3m area. I had to experiment to find the best position for the awning.
I have some leftover hardware, including hose clamps and turnbuckles. I could save some money by buying everything separately in the local shop.
I’m still thinking about how to fasten the bottom of the fabric in a better way. An elastic cord might be a good option.

Wall and ceiling mounts

If you don’t have a post to attach the cable, your only option is to attach the cable to the wall or ceiling. Wall and ceiling mounts come in many different forms and shapes. It should be able to handle at least 100 kg, as wind gusts might be pretty intense. Generally, the stronger it is, the better. It uses screws and dowels to attach to the wall. It will require tools for drilling, such as a hammer drill and a drill bit suitable for the type of wall material being used.

You can use the keywords “ceiling hook,” “hanging chair mount,” or “eyelet plate” to find it online.

Below is an example of a complete set from the Toldoro manufacturer.

Image: Ceiling hooks.

Safety precautions

Learn how to safely use all tools before starting. Read manuals or watch quick guides if needed.

Wear gloves when handling steel cables. Frayed ends can cause cuts or puncture wounds on your skin.

Use a stable stepladder for installing upper lines. Place it on flat ground and don’t overreach. Consider having someone nearby to assist.

How to Dress and Undress your Home

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Image: "Arabs in the desert", a painting by Vasili Veresjtsjagin. End of 19th or early 20th century. Image in the public domain. Inside the tent, temperatures could be up to 10-15 degrees Celsius cooler than in the surrounding atmosphere.

Thermal insulation is a cornerstone of policies aimed at reducing the high energy consumption for heating and cooling buildings. ¹ In many industrialized countries, building energy regulations require new and existing buildings to have insulated walls, floors, and roofs, as well as double- or triple-glazed windows. In cold weather, insulation slows down the heat loss from the interior to the exterior, reducing the energy use of the heating system. In hot weather, insulation delays the transfer of heat from the outside to the inside, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the air conditioning system.

Modern insulation methods involve the permanent addition of non-structural materials with high thermal resistance, such as fiberglass, cellulose, or mineral wool, to the building surfaces. Viewed in a historical context, this approach is unusual and stems from a shift in architectural style. ² Preindustrial buildings often didn’t require extra insulation because they had a significant amount of thermal mass, which acts as a buffer to outside temperature fluctuations. Additionally, the building materials themselves could have high thermal resistance.

Viewed in a historical context, modern insulation methods are unusual and stem from a shift in architectural style.

For example, in the 12th and 13th centuries, Northern Europeans built thatched houses with straw roofs that were 60-80 cm thick. Walls were often built of clay and straw, which provided excellent levels of both thermal mass and thermal resistance. ³ In contrast, modern buildings are frequently steel and concrete structures that have very little thermal mass. Consequently, they are very sensitive to outside temperature fluctuations.

Furthermore, preindustrial buildings had few and small windows, which were often unglazed and closed only by sliding shutters at night. ⁴ On the other side, modern buildings have large glass surfaces, which results in significant heat losses in winter and high solar heat gain in summer.

In hot climates, buildings were also designed for maximal ventilation, for example, through the use of courtyards and building orientation. ⁵ By contrast, modern buildings often resemble one another, regardless of the local climate. All this results in high energy use for heating and cooling, so we add insulation and double-pane windows, especially since the oil crises of the 1970s.

Image: A traditional "Masia" in Arenys de Mar, Catalonia, Spain. Constructed in 1570, it features very thick walls and small windows, which help keep the indoor temperature more stable throughout the year. Image by Ainhoa P (CC BY 2.0).

Image: A traditional Batak house in Indonesia, designed to maximize passive cooling and natural ventilation in a warm and humid climate. The thatched roof insulates against solar heat gains, while the high ceiling and the building's orientation to the prevailing wind direction facilitate the removal of hot air. Photo credit: Mr. Wabu (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Permanent versus Removable Insulation

A return to vernacular buildings, which maintain interiors at a comfortable temperature through architectural design rather than energy-intensive technical installations, could significantly reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling. However, it’s not a short-term solution: it would require a large amount of time, money, and energy to replace the existing building stock.

Fortunately, history offers an alternative solution that can be deployed more quickly and with fewer resources: textiles. Before the Industrial Revolution, people added a temporary layer of textile insulation to either the interior or the exterior of a building, depending on the climate and the season. In cold weather, walls, floors, roofs, windows, doors, and furniture were insulated with drapery and carpetry. In hot weather, windows, doors, facades, roofs, courtyards, and streets were shaded by awnings and toldos.

Image: Sigmund Freud's couch in the Freud Museum London. The room features a floor carpet, wall carpet, couch carpet, and pillows. Photo credit: Robert Huffstutter (CC BY 2.0).

Image: Awnings sheltering people on board the "Undine". Illustration for The Graphic, 12 November 1887. Image in the public domain.

Removable insulation can achieve significant energy savings with much more flexibility than permanently enclosed insulation materials. Because modern insulation methods require construction permits and structural interventions to a building, they are expensive, time-consuming, and only accessible to home owners. Furthermore, modern insulation methods are ill-suited for older buildings, in which case they are often not financially and energetically sustainable. ⁶⁷

People can often install removable insulation without obtaining building permits or hiring professionals, making it an affordable do-it-yourself solution within reach of everyone.

In contrast, removable textile insulation is suitable for both new and existing buildings, as well as for renters and owners alike. People can often install removable insulation without obtaining building permits or hiring professionals, making it an affordable do-it-yourself solution within reach of everyone. Removable insulation can be applied quickly and without causing a nuisance to residents and neighbors.

For cooling, textiles have another advantage. Airtight buildings with a permanent insulation layer may overheat dramatically if the electric cooling system fails during a heatwave. ⁸ In contrast, awnings and toldos can keep interiors comfortable independent of an electricity supply.

Winter: Carpets and Curtains

Historically, the use of removable textile layers followed different approaches depending on the climate. In cold regions, for example, in large parts of Europe, people installed various textile “devices” on the interior building surfaces to increase thermal comfort. Some of these, such as curtains and carpets, can still be found in modern interiors, although not to the same extent as they were used in earlier times.

For example, carpets were not only laid on floors but also hung on walls (“wall carpets” or “wall hangings”), draped over tables (“table mats”), and used on other furniture. Likewise, thick curtains were hung in front of windows but also doors (“portières”) or door openings and mounted around beds (“bed canopies” or “bed hangings”). ⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²¹³¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶ In some regions, people suspended thick fabrics, such as duvets and quilts, from the ceiling during the winter months. ¹⁷¹⁸¹⁶

Image: Room in a late 16th-century French castle. It features bed hangings and wall hangings in the same color, a floor carpet, and window curtains. Photo credit: PMRMaeyaert (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Image: Hanging an eiderdown beneath the roof of the Oskar and Zofia Hansen House in Szumin, Poland. Photograph by Michał Matejko, 2020, from “The Clothed Home” project by Alicja Bielawska, CENTRALA and Aleksandra Kędziorek, organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. Republished with permission.

Image: Embroidered silk bed hangings exported from China, c. 1760-1770. Source: Rijksmuseum. Image in the public domain.

Image: Table carpet woven in cruciform shape, wool knotted pile on wool foundation, medallion design with Ottoman floral motifs on red ground, probably Ottoman Cairo, Egypt, 1550-1600. Source: V&A. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O67146/table-carpet-table-carpet-unknown/

These “home fabrics” were usually made of natural wool, still one of the best-performing insulation materials. ¹⁹ The thermal resistance of wool remains the same whether it’s permanently enclosed in building surfaces or hung in front or laid on top of them. Floor carpets and wall hangings thus slowed down the heat transfer from the inside to the outside of the building, just like modern insulation methods do. Likewise, a set of wool curtains 2-3 cm thick gave a single-glazed window the insulation value of a modern double-glazed window. ²⁰

Before the 18th century, Europeans imported oriental carpets but only used them on walls and furniture because they considered them too precious to walk on.

The production of wool rugs and carpets by flat weaving and, later, by knotting dates back to at least the early centuries AD in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Far East. However, wool floor carpets only became commonplace in Europe around the 18th century, when carpet production was mechanized. Before that time, Europeans imported oriental carpets but only used them on walls and furniture because they considered them too precious to walk on. For floor insulation, they used animal skins, loose straws, or “rush mats” made from grasses. ¹¹¹²¹³²¹²²

Image: "A Carpet Seller, Cairo". A painting by Charles Robertson. Image in the public domain. Before 1892.

Image: "The Somerset House Conference". Spanish delegation on the left, English delegation on the right, a table carpet in the middle. A painting by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, 1604. Image in the public domain.

Image: Rush matting covers the entire floor. "Queen Elizabeth I of England receives Dutch ambassadors", a painting by Levina Teerlinc, 1558. Image in the public domain.

Home textiles also stopped draughts coming in through cracks in building surfaces and window and door frames. ⁹ That is the reason why window curtains evolved to open from both sides. Two-sided curtains can be open, providing daylight and a view while stopping draughts that enter through the poorly sealed joints between the wall and window frame. ¹⁰¹¹

Two-sided curtains can be open, providing daylight and a view while stopping draughts that enter through the poorly sealed joints between the wall and window frame.

During winter, thick and heavy curtains could shield a space from the cold air coming in everytime someone opened the door. Such “portières” can still be found in the entrances of historical public buildings or cafés, but they were common in family dwellings as well. ¹⁰¹¹¹⁷¹⁶

Fabrics also increased comfort in ways that modern insulation methods cannot. Floor carpets slowed down the conductive heat transfer from the feet to the cold floor, while table mats brought arms and hands in contact with a warmer surface. Duvets hanging from the ceiling, bed hangings, and table mats all accumulated heat from the human body or another heat source in a smaller space. ¹⁷¹⁸¹⁶

Image: Bed hangings, floor carpet, and table mat. "The Morning Toilet", a painting by Jan Steen, 1663. Image in the public domain.

Image: A door curtain. "Interieur", a painting by Andrea Gram, 1885. Image in the public domain.

Upholstered Chairs, Wainscoted Walls

Textiles could also be combined with woodwork to the same effect. For example, the folding screen was a work of tapestry and carpentry that blocked draughts and reflected radiant heat from a fireplace. ⁹ Upholstered chairs, which appeared at the end of the 1600s, had a cushion encased in the covering material and were padded with feathers, wool, horsehair, down, or rags. ¹² They provided a softer seating surface but also reduced the conductive heat loss from the body to the furniture. ⁹ Pillows also contributed to thermal comfort.

Some decorative devices, consisting of wood or plaster, fulfilled similar functions to textiles. For example, molding stopped draughts and was used to cover joints between walls and floors (baseboards), ceilings (crown moldings), and doors and windows (casings). ⁹²³ Some houses had wooden partitions hinged to the ceiling that were let down in winter to concentrate warmth around the fireplace. ²⁴

Molding stopped draughts and was used to cover joints between walls and floors, ceilings, and doors and windows.

Wainscoting was a type of oak or pine wood paneling typically installed over a wall’s lower portion, a practice that dates back to the late Middle Ages. ⁹¹²²⁵ Such wooden paneling could also be upholstered, further increasing its thermal insulation value. Interior shutters could replace curtains. Box beds were closed on all sides by panels of wood, substituting for bed hangings.

Unfortunately, there is very little academic research on the potential energy savings of home textiles and similar devices, whether used alone or in combination with permanent insulation. There is a handful of older studies that calculate the insulation values of floor or wall carpets, but none examine the combined effects of interior fabrics and other decorative elements. ²⁶

Image: Upholstered armchair made by the Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory, first half of 18th century. Photo credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image in the public domain.

Image: Wainscoted walls. Morgan Woodwork Organization, 1921. Image in the public domain.

Summer: Awnings

The home textiles described above were primarily used to improve thermal comfort in cold weather. The exception is the window curtain, which not only keeps heat indoors during winter but can also keep solar heat out in summer, resulting in a cooler environment. ²⁷ However, for cooling purposes, window textiles are much more effectively used on the building’s exterior in the form of an “awning,” which blocks solar heat before it enters through the glazing. ²⁸

In Europe, both window curtains and awnings only emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries, when glass became affordable enough to allow for larger areas of glazing. ¹⁰¹²²¹ As mentioned, larger windows complicate the heating and cooling of buildings. Still, they also have advantages: they provide free solar heat in winter, increase natural ventilation, offer a better view, and allow for daylight throughout the year. ²²⁷²⁹

Window curtains and awnings - the latter usually made of canvas - can reconcile all these concerns. For example, an awning can block solar gain in the summer while keeping the window open for ventilation and continuing to provide a view and lighting. ³⁰ In the 19th and early 20th centuries, European and North American cities were dressed in awnings. Several skyscrapers in New York City and Chicago originally had them, too. ³¹

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, European and North American cities were dressed in awnings.

Awnings and air conditioning can be combined, resulting in a significant decrease in energy consumption. Several studies show that awnings can reduce the energy use of air conditioning systems by one-third to more than one-half of the total, yielding energy savings that surpass those of more expensive double-pane or low-emissivity glazing (which is designed to block UV rays). ⁸³²³³³⁴³⁵³⁶³⁷³⁸ Nowadays, windows are larger than ever, and so awnings can obtain very good results for a relatively small investment.

Image: A variety of awnings in a street in Madrid, Spain, in 1919. Image in the public domain.

Image: A house with awnings in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2014. Image credit: Marcvantveer (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Image: The Tacoma Building in Chicago, 1905. The awnings were later replaced by airconditioning units. Image in the public domain.

Summer: Toldos

Outside of Western Europe and North America, the use of exterior “curtains” for cooling predates the use of glass windows by many centuries. For at least 2,000 years in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean, people used textiles not only to shade (unglazed) windows and doors but also roofs, facades, courtyards, and entire streets. Such textile furnishings are known as “toldos” or “sun sails.”

The classical toldo, made from hemp canvas, is a rectangular or triangular, curtain-like awning suspended by sewn-on eyelets on parallel wires. ³⁹ Micro perforations avoid the stagnation of warm air underneath the shading device. ⁴⁰

In Ancient Rome, sailors assembled large “velaria” to shade amphitheaters. ³⁹⁴¹⁴⁰ In Cairo, Egypt, street and courtyard canopies, or toldos, still characterize the cityscape, especially in some historic neighborhoods. ³⁹ European cities with Islamic roots, such as Córdoba, Málaga, Granada, and Seville in Spain, continue to use or have revived the use of street toldos that span entire city streets and districts.

Although toldos have been used predominantly in desert climates, climate change makes them increasingly useful for temperate climate regions as well.

A 2020 study in Cordoba showed that street toldos decrease the temperature of pavement surfaces, building facades, and roofs by up to fifteen degrees Celsius. ⁴⁰ Collective shading could thus replace individual awnings, but the cooling effect on buildings depends on street orientation. Although toldos have been used predominantly in desert climates, climate change makes them increasingly useful for temperate climate regions as well.

Unlike air-conditioning, awnings and toldos are robust, low-cost, and technically simple solutions within reach of most households and societies. ⁴⁰ In Egypt, rather than a top-down development initiated by authorities, toldos are made and installed by residents in a “demonstration of an architectural bottom-up movement supported by a local industry of expertise and craftsmanship.” ³⁹

Image: Street toldo in Spain. Photo credit: IL-Institute, University of Stuttgart. Image in the public domain.

Image: Street toldos in Calle Sierpes, Sevilla, Spain, 1918. Image in the public domain.

Covered Streets

The boundary between removable and permanent insulation is not rigid on the outside, either. For example, louvered wooden shutters or architectural interventions such as recessed windows and covered galleries can replace awnings and toldos. ⁴²

Residential streets in Islamic cities could be either partially covered by cantilevered buildings or totally by additional living spaces. Shopping streets were often completely covered, either heavily by perforated vaults, semi-heavily by high parapet walls and double-pitched roofs, or lightly by thick planks and reeds. ⁴²

Trees can also serve as awnings and toldos. Deciduous trees shade buildings and streets in summer while allowing the sun to pass through in winter. However, trees take decades to grow and need water as well, which is often scarce in the regions where toldos have been used traditionally.

Image left: British Counsel Building 1917. People in the hot, arid climate in the Red Sea region have traditionally used an elaborately carved wooden window screen called a "masharabiya" (Egypt), "rowshan" (Saudi Arabia) or "jali" (India, Pakistan). [^11][^28][^36] It consists of a wooden lattice structure that juts out into the street and covers a single window or multiple windows from the top to the bottom of the building. "Shishes", woven grass or reed mats hung in windows and doorways, were the more affordable version for less wealthy people. Image right: Street Scene 1916. Photo credit: [^36].

Image: "The Carpet Bazaar, Cairo", a painting by William James Müller, 1843. Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. Image in the public domain.

Textile Architecture: Tents

In all the examples above, textiles form an additional “soft” architectural layer, either on the inside or the outside of “hard” architectural building surfaces. However, the soft architectural layer can also stand on its own. In many parts of the world, rather than living in permanent structures made of wood, stone, mud, brick, or other materials, people inhabited lightweight, portable structures that they made almost entirely of textiles: tents. The tent’s velum serves as a curtain, wall carpet, and awning all at once - there is no hard building surface in between.

The tent’s velum serves as a curtain, wall carpet, and awning all at once - there is no hard building surface in between.

As an academic discipline, architectural history has largely ignored textile architecture, which arose among nomadic peoples or so-called “barbarians” outside the governed, “civilized” world. ⁴¹⁴³ However, tents were as widespread as permanent buildings. They were the preferred shelter when two often related conditions prevailed: a lack of building materials and a need for mobility. Nomadic pastoralists utilized portable architecture across vast stretches of Eurasia, North Africa, and North America until relatively recently, and some still do. ⁴¹

One can still make strong arguments for the tent, even today, in terms of both sustainability and resilience. First, tents are significantly less resource-intensive to build than permanent structures. Second, permanent buildings need defenses against all types of natural threats, including heat waves, hurricanes, forest fires, flooding, and so on. In contrast, the tent allows you to solve these issues by relocation: you can flee from danger without leaving your home behind. Tents are also safe shelters in the case of an earthquake.

Image: Inside a traditional Azerbaijan yurt. Image credit: G.Fargana (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Image: A yak carrying part of a yurt, 1925. Image credit: Fortepan. Image in the public domain.

Tents for Hot and Cold Regions

Tents were found in regions subject to extreme heat or cold, demonstrating the versatility and effectiveness of textiles in providing thermal comfort. ⁴¹ Both the skin-covered conical tent of Northern Eurasia and North America, better known as the “tipi,” and the “kibitka” or felt tent, more popularly known as a “yurt,” were designed for efficient combustion in cold, windy climates. The structures served as a combustion chamber, chimney, and windbreak for the central fire, in addition to functioning as a dwelling. ⁴¹

In contrast, the “black tent” of the Middle East was designed to keep the heat outside rather than inside. Most closely resembling the tents we still use today, it was a non-skeletal tent with a prestressed velum, tensed in an aerodynamic shape over minimal wood supports. Unlike the mats and leather awnings of the conical tent and kibitka, the woven vellum made from black goat hair was strong enough in tension to be prestressed. ⁴¹ It absorbed heat while providing shade, and as a result, temperatures inside the black tent could be up to 10-15 degrees Celsius cooler than in the surrounding atmosphere. ⁴

Tipis

Image: Blackfoot tipis, 1910. Photo credit: Arthur Rafton-Canning. Image in the public domain.

Image: Model tipi, Cheyenne Central Plains, North America, 1860, buffalo skin and pigments. Unknow Cheyenne artisan. Photo credit: John Bigelow Taylor. Image in the public domain.

Kibitkas

Image: Evening in the Yurt Camp Song Köl (also Son Kul), Kyrgyzstan, 2018. Photo credit: Ninara (CC BY 2.0).

Image: A kibitka in Kyrgyzstan, 2015. Photo credit: w0zny (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Black tents

Image: An encampment of black tents in South Jordan. Source: Drew, Philip. Tensile architecture, 1979/2019.

Image: Bedouin Tents and Occupants. Photo credit: Detroit Photographic Co. Image in the public domain.

Dressing and Undressing the House

In modern buildings, maintaining thermal comfort requires no attention or effort from residents. If it gets colder in winter or hotter in summer, modern heating and cooling systems keep the thermostat-programmed indoor temperature by increasing energy use. In contrast, preindustrial buildings demanded active participation from their inhabitants. It was a common practice to adjust indoor and outdoor textiles according to the time of day, weather, and seasons.

The historical use of removable textile insulation reminds us of the act of dressing and undressing our bodies, which also relies on the weather and the seasons.

The historical use of removable textile insulation reminds us of the act of dressing and undressing our bodies, which also relies on the weather and the seasons. ¹⁶ Daily, people opened and closed curtains and awnings depending on the weather and the time of the day. ¹⁰ Street and courtyard toldos were folded together during the night so that the warmth stored in the thermal mass of the pavement and the buildings could radiate to the sky. ³⁶ The same happened during windy weather.

Image: In many historical cases, there were close relationships between upholstery, drapery, and dress. [^11] Detail from: Nicolas Ponce (1746–1831) after Pierre Antoine Baudouin (1723–1769), La toilette, engraving, 1771. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1954, 54.533.12. Image in the public domain.

Image: Odalisque, relaxation, a painting by Francesco Ballesio (1860–1923). Image in the public domain.

On a seasonal scale, rugs and carpets were rolled up in summer to expose the cold stone floor. Bed hangings made of thick materials, used in wintertime, were replaced by lighter textiles in summer, which allowed people to sleep without the nuisance of insects. ¹¹ In Córdoba and other Spanish cities, street toldos are only installed between May and October. ⁴⁰

Some people also added temporary winter insulation to the exterior of a structure by piling up a low barrier to cold temperatures along the lowest parts of the walls, especially the wall facing the prevailing wind. For example, in the colonial period in North America, Connecticut houses were often banked with turf, piles of leaves, or, near the coast, with seaweed. Even today, in rural areas of the northern US, bales of hay can be seen piled up around the foundations of frame houses. ⁴

Dressing and Undressing the Tent

Tents also demonstrate the seasonal nature of textiles. In Lapland, the tent cover was traditionally made of birch bark in the summer and reindeer skin in the winter. In the Mongolian and Turkish kibitka, the number of felt layers used to cover the tent frame depended on the outside temperature. During winter, two or three layers of felt may have been added, whereas in summer, the side felts were raised approximately half a meter off the ground to ventilate the interior. Native Americans regulated the intensity of the fire by opening and closing parts of the tent. In summer, they left the tipi partially open to the environment. ⁴¹

During winter, two or three layers of felt may have been added, whereas in summer, the side felts were raised approximately half a meter off the ground to ventilate the interior.

In black tents, an extra cotton lining, a tent within a tent, could be hung on the inside in winter as insulation against the cold. During the hot season, the tent was left open on all sides. The excellent wind stability of the black tent in strong winds also depended on regular interventions by the inhabitants. Because the open side of the tent faced away from the prevailing wind, a sudden change in wind direction required the residents to remove the front poles to the rear, take down the back wall, and reattach it across the tent’s front. ⁴¹

Tents could also have external insulation added during cold seasons. Some people surrounded their tents with wattle walls, while others built earthen walls around them or erected stone or mud walls. In Lapland, people sometimes covered the tent sides with snow in winter. ⁴¹ Some native American tribes piled earth and stones all around the base of their tipis to block cold drafts and add insulation. The practice also helped to anchor the structure against winter winds. ⁴

Image: Kyrgyz women placing felt covering on a kibitka tent, 2010. Photo credit: Raki_Man (CC BY 3.0).

Image: Yurt interior in Khövsgol Province, Mongolia, 2023. Photo credit: Bernard Gagnon. Image in the public domain.

Image: Indian Encampment, a painting by Albert Bierstadt, 1862. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Image in the public domain.

Privacy, Noise, Aesthetic Pleasure

While keeping people warm or cool, textiles also served other functions, both in permanent buildings and tents. First of all, they helped to mark off areas for private life. ¹⁰ Spaces were separated by curtains, which disrupted sightlines and muffled sounds. ⁹¹⁰¹³¹⁷¹⁶ Curtains could screen off certain areas dedicated to specific functions that required restricted access. ¹⁴ Bed hangings offered privacy in the absence of a separate bedroom. ¹⁰

Image: Door curtain covering a house door in Tolve, Italy, 2019. Photo credit: Jules Verne Times Two (CC-BY-SA-4.0).

Curtains and awnings provided privacy without sacrificing thermal comfort. During summer, a door curtain or awning could prevent outsiders from gazing into the interior when the doors or windows were open, allowing some degree of light and air. Rooms separated by door curtains provided some privacy from other residents while allowing air to move. ¹⁰ Textiles also protected people and their possessions from dust and insects, regulated the lighting of interiors, reduced noise, and made speech richer and more resonant. ¹⁵¹⁶

Finally, home textiles contributed to the adornment of the spaces in which they were hung, “either in their own right or as a backdrop or frame for the display of objects and persons, thus affording aesthetic pleasure and imparting a sense of solemnity, opulence, warmth, or intimacy, depending on the context.” ¹⁴ Textiles were often the most valuable items on display in an interior, and their quality and variety reflected the standing of their owners. ¹¹¹⁴

Textiles were often the most valuable items on display in an interior, and their quality and variety reflected the standing of their owners.

For example, in most households, wall hangings were made of plain wool, linen, cotton, or leather, while the walls in castles, palaces, and rich houses were adorned with embossed leather hangings or tapestries presenting specific scenes or landscapes - made of silk and wool and intertwined with gold and silver threads to add richness. ¹³⁴⁴

Image: Eijsden Castle: Interior billiard room with gold leather wall hangings. Photo credit: A. J. van der Wal, Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Image: The apartment of empress Joséphine in the Château de Malmaison in Rueil-Malmaison, France. The room of the Empress, luxuriously decorated in 1812 in the shape of a tent with sixteen pieces, exhibits the original bed. Photo credit: Moonik (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Air-conditioned, Bare-white Interiors

Nowadays, few of us live in buildings with door curtains, bed hangings, or awnings. The abundance of interior decoration gave way to a minimalist, neutral, and often bare-white interior design devoid of textiles. ⁹¹³²¹ Likewise, we now prefer to build air-conditioned shopping malls instead of street markets covered by toldos. Of course, we can only do these things thanks to a seemingly endless stream of fossil fuels. ⁹

Curtains, carpets, awnings, and toldos have their inconveniences and disadvantages. They require attention and manual intervention, need to be cleaned, and can pose a fire risk unless made of wool or leather. ⁴⁵ However, the continued burning of fossil fuels has even larger inconveniences and disadvantages, especially in the long term.

Textiles could decrease energy use and enhance comfort and livability in all types of buildings. Toldos could span the streets and roofs of entire city districts. History shows that removable textile insulation works.

Image: A modern interior. What happened to the textiles? Photo credit: JessofWoodnCo (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Image: The Iranians, known for their historical cooling technologies such as wind catchers, have recently built the largest air-conditioned shopping mall in the world. Photo credit: Anakarnia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Unfortunately, building and renovation regulations overlook the thermal insulation properties of carpets, curtains, and other textile devices. You may add as many thick curtains and carpets as you like; however, legislation will still require you to install double- or triple-glazed windows and insulated building surfaces, even though textiles could be just as effective in providing insulation. ⁶

On the outside of the building, awnings may not even be legal. The British Blind and Shutter Association had to fight hard to overturn a ban on awnings by the authorities. ³⁰ And, in case you are considering it, in many countries, it’s forbidden to live in a tent, even if it’s on private property.

Thanks to Louise Morin for the inspiration.

Thanks to Jonas Görgen, Roel Roscam Abbing, and Marie Verdeil for their feedback on an earlier version of this article.

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Van de Voorde, S. 2015. Thermal Insulation in Belgium before the First Oil Crisis (1945-1975). A Question of Economy and Comfort? In: 5th International Congress on Construction History. Chicago, vol. 3, pp. 517-524. https://www.brusselsretrofitxl.be/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Van-de-Voorde_5ICCH_Chicago_2015_Thermal-insulation.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎
The historical development of thermal insulation materials." Periodica Polytechnica Architecture 41.2 (2010): 49-56. ↩︎
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Zamani, Zahra, Shahin Heidari, and Pirouz Hanachi. “Reviewing the thermal and microclimatic function of courtyards.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 93 (2018): 580-595. ↩︎
De Decker, Kris. “Energy labels oblige frugal homeowners to make unsustainable investments”, Low-tech Magazine, January 2018. https://qelnixcor.cloud/2018/01/energielabels-verplichten-zuinige-woning-bezitters-tot-nutteloze-investeringen/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Modern insulation methods can also damage older types of buildings, such as wooden houses in Northern Europe, which were designed to be drafty. Adding permanent insulation creates mildew and an unhealthy indoor climate. ↩︎
Alrasheed, Mousa, and Monjur Mourshed. “Domestic overheating risks and mitigation strategies: The state-of-the-art and directions for future research.” Indoor and Built Environment 32.6 (2023): 1057-1077. See also: Tink, Victoria, et al. “Measuring and mitigating overheating risk in solid wall dwellings retrofitted with internal wall insulation.” Building and Environment 141 (2018): 247-261. ↩︎ ↩︎
Rahm, Philippe. “The Anthropocene style: Towards a new decorative style.” Design Innovations for Contemporary Interiors and Civic Art. IGI Global, 2017. 258-269. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Ekici, Didem, Patricia Blessing, Basile Baudez, eds. Textile in Architecture: From the Middle Ages to Modernism. Taylor & Francis, 2023. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Erickson, Ann. “An Overview Of The Historic Use Of Textiles For Residential Interior Insulation.” Journal of Interior Design Education and Research 8.1 (1982): 18-21. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Yarwood, Doreen. “The domestic interior: Technology and the home.” An Encyclopedia of the History of Technology. Routledge, 2002. 902-948. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
McCorquodale, Charles - The History of Interior Decoration-Phaidon Press (1988) ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Dumberton Oak Papers 73, 2019: https://www.jstor.org/stable/e26955166 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
M. O’Shea C.Text., A.T.I. (1981): INTERIOR FURNISHINGS, Textile Progress, 11:1, 1-63 ↩︎ ↩︎
“The Clothed Home: Tuning in to the Seasonal Imagination”, catalogue of the exhibition by Alicja Bielawska, CENTRALA and Aleksandra Kędziorek, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, 2021, https://iam.pl/sites/default/files/publication/london-design-biennale-2021-the-clothed-home-tuning-in-to-the-seasonal-imagination-cataolgue_1.pdf. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Cymer, Anna, “Dressing a house the history of fabrics inside the home”, Culture.pl, October 20222. https://culture.pl/en/article/dressing-a-house-the-history-of-fabrics-inside-the-home ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Kędziorek, Aleksandra, “The clothed home”, e-flux, After Comfort: A User’s Guide, October 2023. https://www.e-flux.com/architecture/after-comfort/568034/the-clothed-home/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Zach, Jiří, et al. “Performance evaluation and research of alternative thermal insulations based on sheep wool.” Energy and Buildings 49 (2012): 246-253. ↩︎
My own calculation. ↩︎
Rybczynski, Witold. “Home: A Short History of an Idea.” (1988). ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
https://www.woolsome.shop/rush-mat-history/ ↩︎
Brett, Dan. Tales from the Blue Ox: A Hands-On Manual of Traditional Skills from the Blue Ox Millworks Historic Park. Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. ↩︎
Giedion, Sigfried. “Mechanization takes command: a contribution to anonymous history.” (1955). ↩︎
Lloyd, Nathaniel. “Medieval Wainscoting and the Development of the Linen Panel.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 53.308 (1928): 231-237. ↩︎
Reagan, Barbara M., and Ludwig Villasi. “Thermal properties of wall covering materials.” Textile Research Journal 52.11 (1982): 703-709. /// McNeil, Steve. “The thermal properties of wool carpets.” Technical Bulletin (2016). /// Epps, Helen H. “Insulation characteristics of fabric assemblies.” Journal of Coated Fabrics 17.3 (1988): 212-218. /// Garber-Slaght, Robbin, and Colin Craven. “Evaluating window insulation for cold climates.” Journal of Green Building 7.3 (2012): 32-48. /// Ukponmwan, J. O. “The thermal-insulation properties of fabrics.” Textile Progress 24.4 (1993): 1-54. ↩︎
Sherman, Michael P. “The effects of interior drapery on heat transmission.” Journal of Interior Design Education and Research 9.2 (1983): 3-7.https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1939-1668.1983.tb00463.x?journalCode=idxb ↩︎ ↩︎
Yassine, Farah. “The effect of shading devices on the energy consumption of buildings: A study on an office building in Dubai.” (2013). ↩︎
Fathy, Hassan. “Natural energy and vernacular architecture.” (1986). ↩︎
Climate Change Adaptation Case Study: Cooling A Country House, Historic England, July 2024. https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/adapting-historic-buildings-energy-carbon-efficiency-advice-note-18/case-study-cooling-country-house/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Ainly, J. Anne, “A history of awnings: the forgotten architectural feature for environmental control”, 2022. ↩︎
Pender, Robyn. Awnings and canopies: Learning from the past. Historic England. https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/advice/bcd-2021-awnings-and-canopies/ ↩︎
Huang, Yu Joe. “The Impact on Energy Use and Peak Demand of Awnings and Roller Shades in Residential Buildings.” (2012). ↩︎
Carmody, John, Kerry Haglund, and Joe Huang. “Awnings in Residential Buildings: The Impact on Energy Use and Peak Demand.” Center for Sustainable Building Research, University of Minnesota (2007). ↩︎
Sachchithananthan, Shanthini. Optimal Window Glazing with Passive Solar Features to Lower Energy Costs. Diss. University of Massachusetts Lowell, 2018. ↩︎
Ahmad, Rehab M., et al. “An approach to select an energy-efficient shading device for the south-oriented façades in heritage buildings in Alexandria, Egypt.” Energy Reports 7 (2021): 133-137. ↩︎ ↩︎
Batterjee, Sara Adel. Performance of shading device inspired by traditional hejazi houses in Jeddah Saudi Arabia. Diss. The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2010. ↩︎
Yassine, Farah. “The effect of shading devices on the energy consumption of buildings: A study on an office building in Dubai.” (2013). ↩︎
Schleicher, Simon. Adaptive Toldo systems T̳M̳. Diss. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Garcia-Nevado, Elena, et al. “Benefits of street sun sails to limit building cooling needs in a mediterranean city.” Building and Environment 187 (2021): 107403. // Garcia-Nevado, Elena, Benoit Beckers, and Helena Coch. “Assessing the cooling effect of urban textile shading devices through time-lapse thermography.” Sustainable cities and society 63 (2020): 102458. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Drew, Philip. Tensile architecture, 1979/2019. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Belakehal, Azeddine, K. Tabet Aoul, and Amar Bennadji. “Sunlighting and daylighting strategies in the traditional urban spaces and buildings of the hot arid regions.” Renewable energy 29.5 (2004): 687-702. ↩︎ ↩︎
Scott, James C. “The art of not being governed.” ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 28: Collection of Papers 28 (2013): 349. ↩︎
Home Furnishing: Facts and Figures About Furniture, Carpets and Rugs, Lamps and Lighting Fixtures, Wall Papers, Window Shades and Draperies, Tapestries, Etc (1913) https://ia904504.us.archive.org/15/items/homefurnishingfa00huntuoft/homefurnishingfa00huntuoft.pdf ↩︎
It is ironic that interior textiles largely disappeared just when a new invention had made their cleaning a lot more practical and less labor-intensive: the vacuum cleaner allows carpets to be cleaned in place rather than removed and beaten outside. ↩︎

The Compressed Book Edition

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Image: The Compressed Book Edition. Image by Marie Verdeil and Hugo Lopez.

The Compressed Edition is available in our bookshop as a paperback and hardcover.

In 2018, Low-tech Magazine launched a low-energy website that runs on solar power. To reduce energy use and make the content accessible for readers with old computers and slow internet connections, we opted for a back-to-basics web design, optimising image and file sizes, as well as using a static site generator instead of a database-driven content management system. In 2019, we also launched a book edition of Low-tech Magazine, which consists of three volumes with articles and one volume with comments.

The Compressed Book Edition

While a book looks and feels more low-tech than a website, it has an environmental footprint as well. Industrial book publishing and distribution involves wood harvesting, pulp and paper production, printing, ink-making, and lots of shipping throughout the supply chain. Even if the wood for paper production is harvested sustainably, which is rarely the case, all these processes require energy and produce carbon emissions.

To address these issues, and to keep practicing what we preach, Low-tech Magazine has now made a “compressed edition” of the chronological book series. Inspired by the image compression on our website, we squeezed the article catalog of three volumes into just one book. Consequently, we reduced the paper consumption and carbon emissions by almost a factor of three. The compressed edition contains 84 articles and over 700 images on slightly more than 600 pages.

We did this by switching to a smaller font size (similar to the one used in the comments book), by downsizing most images, and by opting for a two-column layout. I rewrote some articles, especially older ones, resulting not only in fewer pages but also in better articles. Laia Comellas and Marie Verdeil collaborated on the design of the compressed edition.

Image: The original, "uncompressed" book series. Image by Marie Verdeil and Hugo Lopez.

Books or Website?

Ever since the launch of the book collection, readers have asked what is most sustainable: reading Low-tech Magazine online or on paper? While it’s a relevant question, comparing the carbon emissions of books and websites is complex and somewhat pointless. There are so many variables influencing this calculation that you could tilt the result toward your preferred answer.

Comparing the carbon emissions of books and websites is complex and somewhat pointless.

A crucial factor is the time spent reading. If you only read a few articles, reading online likely has a lower carbon footprint. But, if you read all articles, and maybe even go back to them regularly afterward, the difference between online and offline reading becomes smaller. For the books, all carbon emissions occur before the reading process starts. In contrast, the more time you spend on the website, the higher the carbon emissions. ¹

There’s another difference between online and offline reading: Unlike a website, a book can be read by more than one person without raising its carbon emissions — for example, when it’s available in a library. ² Books usually have very long lifetimes, between 25 and 500 years. ³ Therefore, they can be read by dozens of people. That is especially the case for hardcover books, which take a bit more resources to produce than paperbacks but are more resistant to abuse.

Carbon Emissions & Energy Use

To estimate the carbon emissions of Low-tech Magazine’s books, I used a study of a 320-page hardcover book weighing 0.75 kg. ³ According to the researchers, the complete production process of the book has a carbon footprint of between 2 and 3 kg of CO2-equivalents, depending on what happens when the book is discarded after 25 years (landfill or recycling).

The three “uncompressed” paperback books together weigh 2,531 grams, which corresponds to an estimated carbon footprint of between 6.7 and 10.1 kg CO2-equivalents. For the compressed edition, at 929 grams, the carbon footprint comes down to between 2.48 and 3.70 kg of CO2-equivalents. These numbers are surprisingly high compared to the carbon footprint of Low-tech Magazine’s web server, which we calculated to be 9 kg CO2-equivalents per year. ⁴ Although our web server runs on solar power, these carbon emissions result from producing the solar panel, the battery, the solar charge controller, and the printed circuit boards, measured across their estimated lifetime.

However, the book does not require any infrastructure to be read, while the carbon footprint of our web server is only one part of the total footprint of the website. Readers of the website need a computer to access it, and the resulting energy use and carbon emissions of powering and manufacturing that device should also be included. Assuming 60 hours to read all the articles, a laptop power use of 25-50 watts, and the average power grid carbon intensity in Europe (300g/kWh), the power use of the laptop would add between 0.45 and 0.90 kg of carbon emissions for reading content online.

Image: The Compressed Book Edition (hardcover). Image by Marie Verdeil and Hugo Lopez.

To this should be added the energy that was required to manufacture the laptop and the power grid (of which in both cases only a part can be attributed to reading Low-tech Magazine). Because life cycle analyses show that the energy used for manufacturing a laptop surpasses its operational energy use, we can — conservatively — double this result to between 0.90 kg and 1.8 kg of CO2-equivalents. ⁵ Because our website uses very little energy, almost the complete carbon footprint of Low-tech Magazine is due to the devices of our readers.

The book needs to be read by at least two to three people before its environmental footprint becomes smaller than the one caused by reading all Low-tech Magazine articles online.

Nevertheless, this carbon footprint is still lower than the 3 kg of CO2-equivalents for the compressed book edition. Although this is a very rough estimate, it seems to suggest that this book needs to be read by at least two to three people before its environmental footprint becomes smaller than the one caused by reading all Low-tech Magazine articles online. Of course, we have set the bar very high for ourselves because of our light-weight website. Compared to the old blog, which was much more carbon-intensive than the solar-powered website, the compressed book edition — and perhaps even the uncompressed book edition — would be the more sustainable option even if it is read only by one person.

How Many Trees Have We Cut Down?

The environmental footprint of books does not only show in carbon emissions. Books are made from paper, and paper is — nowadays — almost exclusively made from dead trees. With close to 10,000 Low-tech Magazine books sold, an uncomfortable question pops up: how many trees did I kill? That is not an easy question to answer, because the only reference I could find says that “one tree can produce 25 books” ⁶, without specifying what size of tree or type of book these numbers refer to.

Nevertheless, if this estimation is valid, the Low-tech Magazine books would be responsible for chopping down roughly 400 unspecified trees. Whether or not these trees were replaced by other trees, I have no way of knowing. However, by reducing the page number from 1,700 to a little over 600 pages, at least the Compressed Edition attempts to limit this resource use.

Compressing the content — an editorial and design choice — produces a larger reduction in resource use than printing on recycled paper could ever do.

Low-tech Magazine’s “tree consumption” could be further reduced by printing on recycled paper, and we would probably do so if our book distributor and printer — Lulu — would offer that option. However, printing on recycled paper is not a panacea. Paper can only be recycled a couple of times before it needs to be incinerated or landfilled.

Partly because of this, and partly because of economic growth, there is not enough recycled paper available to print the ever-increasing number of books that are published each year. If Low-tech Magazine prints on recycled paper, it means that someone else won’t. Moreover, printing on recycled paper often increases the carbon emissions of paper production. ³ Compressing the content — an editorial and design choice — produces a larger reduction in resource use than printing on recycled paper could ever do.

How Many Books are Thrown Away?

The carbon footprint and wood consumption of an individual book only tell a part of the story. Most environmental damage in the book industry is done by overproduction. A very large number of printed books are not sold but discarded before anyone can read them. Overproduction occurs in two ways. First, most books that come on the market fail commercially, which is a consequence of the business strategies of book publishers. ⁷ Large publishers invest in a massive number of titles in the hope that one will become a bestseller.

Image: The Compressed Book Edition (paperback). Image by Marie Verdeil and Hugo Lopez.

Second, higher print runs significantly lower the printing costs per copy, and thus encourage overproduction. To give an example, printing 100 copies of a 600-page book costs 7,3 euros per copy, while printing 1,000 copies costs only 4,30 euros per copy. ⁸ As a result, it can be more profitable to print more books and discard the unsold copies. Even books that are in demand can be thrown away. For example, unsold copies at events are usually destroyed rather than sent back to publishers because it’s cheaper. ⁹

A less wasteful approach is printing on demand, in which a copy only gets printed once it is bought. In this case, there is no waste unless a book is printed badly. However, the energy use and carbon emissions per printed copy are probably higher, with the printing equipment taking a larger share in the total resource use. The printing costs are much higher, too (around 15 euros per copy for a 600-page book). ¹⁰ Almost all Low-tech Magazine books are printed on demand, but we can only do this because we have our own direct sales channel (the website). If books are sold through Amazon or in bookstores, print-on-demand results in a very high sales price or a very low profit for the book publisher.

Other Low-tech Magazine Books

The launch of the compressed edition does not mean that the “uncompressed” books will no longer be for sale. They will be redesigned in the next months, reflecting the same changes in articles (shorter and better) but printed with a larger font, larger images, and a one-column layout. Their carbon footprint will decrease compared to the earlier volumes but in a less spectacular way. Nevertheless, while those uncompressed books remain the most comfortable option for reading Low-tech Magazine, we expect a significant part of potential buyers to opt for the more compact edition, as it provides the most bang for the buck.

Obviously, “compressing” the books also addresses printing costs, which have skyrocketed in the last few years. Higher printing costs result in a higher sales price and a lower profit, or both. The compressed edition allows us to roughly halve the sales price for the whole archive while maintaining two-thirds of the profit. For the redesigned uncompressed editions, a more modest reduction in the page number will allow us to keep the current sales price but restore the profit per copy to pre-pandemic levels — important for the survival of the magazine. After all, people buy books for the content they contain, not for their weight on paper.

Ebooks and Thematic Books

The Compressed Edition is part of an ongoing research project into the sustainability of Low-tech Magazine’s publishing operations. Apart from the solar-powered website, we have introduced ebooks (2024), and these are perhaps the most sustainable option to read Low-tech Magazine. We also started the publication of a thematic books series (2023), aimed at people who are only interested in certain topics and themes of Low-tech Magazine. The ebooks and thematic books are made in collaboration with Marie Verdeil.

Book Launch Event

We hold a book launch event in Barcelona on March 28.

Image: Book launch event in Barcelona. Poster by Hugo Lopez.

That is mainly because of the energy use of the end-use devices that people use to access the website. Surprisingly, the number of website visitors has no influence on the power use of our web server. That is likely due to the fact that it is a very lightweight, static website. For “normal”, dynamic websites, the energy use is closely related to the number of visitors. ↩︎
Low-tech Magazine’s books are available in several libraries. See: https://search.worldcat.org. If it is not available in your local library, you can file an acquisition request there. ↩︎
Wells, Jean‐Robert, et al. “Carbon footprint assessment of a paperback book: Can planned integration of deinked market pulp be detrimental to climate?.” Journal of Industrial Ecology 16.2 (2012): 212-222. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
See: “How sustainable is a solar powered website?”: https://qelnixcor.cloud/2020/01/how-sustainable-is-a-solar-powered-website/ ↩︎
There’s also the power use of the router. However, while the grid-powered router uses 240 Wh of electricity per day, it is shared by all website visitors (and by the author). Even on a calm day (around 2,000 unique visitors), extra energy use due to the router is only 0.12 watt-hour per visitor. That is much lower than the energy use of the laptop, even during a relatively short visit. ↩︎
https://publishyourpurpose.com/blog/environmental-impact-book-publishing/ ↩︎
Biel, Joe. People’s Guide to Publishing: Building a Successful, Sustainable, Meaningful Book Business From the Ground Up. Microcosm Publishing, 2018. ↩︎
Based on the prices of expresta.eu ↩︎
Bookstores need to prove that they destroyed the books by ripping off the covers and sending them to the publisher. Source: personal communication with book sellers at events. ↩︎
Book cost calculator, Lulu. https://www.lulu.com/pricing ↩︎