On: There Might Be No Way to Live Comfortably Without Also Ruining the Planet

[jdietrich]

>significant regions that require large-scale heating or air conditioning to make habitable. Some require both.

People only moved to the really hot parts of America in significant numbers because of the invention of air conditioning. They abandoned vernacular architectural techniques that kept buildings comfortable using passive cooling.

The entire population of the US could comfortably fit into the climatically mild parts. Vast areas of the US never get particularly cold in winter or particularly warm in summer.

As with suburban sprawl, the human geography of the US is built around wasteful energy use. Those trends were established over time and they can be reversed over time.

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/thermal-delight/

[Turing_Machine → jdietrich]

"The entire population of the US could comfortably fit into the climatically mild parts."

Yeah, well, the entire population of the US could be put in giant warehouses, eating in cafeterias and hotbunking the beds in three shifts.

But that's no way to live.

"Vast areas of the US never get particularly cold in winter or particularly warm in summer."

Where are these "vast areas"? Outside of maybe the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii, I can't think of any.