Living greener: Summer without A/C

This summer I am living without air conditioning---I moved into a house with no a/c while finishing the construction on my house. I had been wavering about installing central air conditioning in my permanent house and I am leaning to a milder (and much less carbon-intensive) system of radiant cooling that will not chill my new house as much as a central air system would. (I should note that my new house would qualify for LEED for Homes Gold if I were to pursue the certification.)

This morning, the NYTimes has an article about people forgoing air conditioning, even in places like the Deep South. Food for thought. Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/garden/23air.html?8dpc=&pagewanted=all.

Some excerpts:

Mr. Focazio, 44, said that before the family stopped cooling their house, they tended to wait out their summers rather than participate in them.

“We found that going in and out of air conditioning always made you feel like it was too hot outside, so you ended up sitting in your easy chair eating pretzels,” he said. But being uncomfortable indoors forces them out — onto their 1,000-square-foot multilevel deck and beyond.

“When it’s too hot to just sit here we might go swimming or ride our bikes or walk along the canal path,” said Mr. Focazio, who noted that he usually loses about six or seven pounds each summer, which he attributes to an appetite diminished by the heat, and an increase in exercise.

And,

It was when the family put up an awning and fan over their patio — effectively transforming it into their living room, where they spent about three hours a night grilling, playing games and talking instead of going their separate ways — that they discovered the upside of an uncontrolled climate

“We spent an entire summer getting to know our kids by sitting outside trying to keep our electricity bill down,” said Ms. Holmes, who estimated that the family saved $2,100 last summer; they are repeating the experience this year. “It was very therapeutic and we got closer. We also got thinner — all of our diets changed because we were eating a lot of grilled food. And by the time fall came around, with the change in the economy, we had learned to live off less. So when everyone started talking about how hard things are, we felt like we had already experienced the worst of the worst. It prepared us for the whole year.”

And, where we do have design choices,

Houses built before the 1960s, when widespread use of window air-conditioners began, tended to incorporate many of the elements that make it easier to stay cool: higher ceilings, alignment of windows to facilitate cross-ventilation, more windows on the north side of the house than the sun-exposed south, and a large covered porch to shield the sunniest part of the house.

But even those who live in houses without the ideal design can fight summer heat with strategic window opening and the use of heavy curtains or shutters. At night, open windows let in the cool air (window fans help). But windows should be closed in mid-morning, along with drapes or blinds, to prevent sunlight from heating up the rooms.

I have become more of a "fan" of ceiling fans this summer. From a design standpoint, unless the room has high enough ceilings, I find their presence intrusive. But the quiet churning of the air on a warm summer night is very pleasant---and much "greener" than air conditioning!