January 23, 2022

By Lily Carey

Regulating the temperature and climate of your home is no easy task especially for a historic building like the Jacob Odell house, home of The Historical Society serving Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown.

We have lots of really delicate objects, said Sara Mascia, Executive Director of the Historical Society. A lot of these materials need really appropriate environments for them to be preserved in.

The Historical Society preserves centuries-old artifacts in the Jacob Odell house, from its first floor historical exhibits to its library full of local records and documents. All of the Societys artifacts were made, used, and even worn locally.

Yet preserving these artifacts in an ideal climate is a major concern, says Mascia. Built between 1848 and 1850, the Jacob Odell house originally used an old and inefficient boiler, and had no air conditioning. Without proper heating and cooling, the Historical Societys artifacts risked being damaged.

This all changed several years ago, when the Historical Society heard about the option of heating and cooling with clean, efficient heat pumps. As a not-for-profit organization, the Historical Society received a grant to make energy efficiency upgrades from the New York State Thruway Authority during the construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge.

We were able to put solar panels up on our roof, and also heat pumps, said Mascia. The heat pumps provide both heat and air conditioning, which is great for an old house like this.

Doug Fox, energy advisor, in front of the outdoor unit for the heat pump at the Historical Society

During the process, the Historical Society consulted with the Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council (TEAC), a group of volunteers that works with the town on environmental goals. The TEAC helped the Society in deciding what types of renewable energy to look at for their project, and has helped many other homeowners with related home energy efficiency projects.

Mascia emphasized that preserving the original fabric of the house was especially important for the Historical Society.

Fortunately, the contractors were able to install the Historical Societys heat pumps behind the walls of the building, regulating temperature without disturbing the houses character. The air-source heat pumps used in the Jacob Odell house are typically installed onto the side of the building, and use a compressor to heat air from the outdoors and move it indoors.

We were able to create an environment here that not only protects the historic fabric of the building, but makes us a little bit greener, said Mascia.

By combining the air-source heat pump system with the solar panels installed on the roof, the Historical Society was even able to lower their energy costs. Mascia has especially noticed how the project combined the Historical Societys goals of preservation, sustainability, and lowering energy costs.

The Jacob Odell house is just one of hundreds of buildings across Westchester to have upgraded its energy systems through state grant programs. Information and assistance for homeowners to make similar energy upgrades are available through EnergySmart Rivertowns, a partnership between Sustainable Westchester, NYSERDA, and the governments of Tarrytown, Irvington, and Sleepy Hollow.

Eligible homeowners can receive incentives, rebates and financing assistance and connect with contractors to install heat pumps, insulation, water heaters and more in their own homes through EnergySmart programs. TEAC has also partnered with EnergySmart Rivertowns to spread the word about these programs and help homeowners in the Tarrytown area complete their own projects.

Overall, these programs proved to be incredibly helpful to the Historical Society and the Jacob Odell house, said Mascia.

This whole system has helped us to preserve a lot of our artifacts and objects, she said. I cant recommend it enough.

If youre interested in making similar energy upgrades to your own home or if you want to volunteer to spread the word about these programs contact Sustainable Westchesters EnergySmart Rivertowns at EnergySmartHomes@SustainableWestchester.org or contact TEAC for more information.

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Energy Upgrades Help the Tarrytown Historical Society Preserve Its History - The Hudson Indy Westchester's Rivertowns News - - The Hudson Independent

For four days in Perth's heatwave over Christmas and New Year's, the temperature in Rosa Hicks's bedroom did not sink below 30 degrees.

Forced to isolate for a day in her smallSouth Fremantle share house, she had only a pedestal fan to use in an attempt to cool herself.

She saidher rented house had not been "liveable or healthy" this summer season.

"When I was isolating in my room for 12 hours waiting for a COVID test result, I felt even more trapped knowing I couldn't escape to the sea or even catch the breeze in my garden," she told Geoff Hutchison on ABC Perth's Drive program.

Ms Hicks has been tracking the temperature in her bedroom with a thermometer provided by tenancy advocacy group Better Renting for a project called Renter Researchers.

"I was struggling to sleep," she said.

"I don't think I realised just how hot it was getting until I had this sort of quantitative data in front of me."

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The situation will come into sharp focus for many tenants as Perthsweltersthrough anotherheatwave which could break a record for the most consecutive days over 40 degrees, prompting health warnings and record power consumption.

Better Rentingexecutive director Joel Digham said the experience of tenants like Ms Hicks had prompted a renewed push for landlords to provide minimum standards of comfortin their properties.

"Renter Researchers aims to bring out into the open what people who rent their homes are experiencing, combining data and people's stories to highlight the challenges of enduring an Australian summer in a poor-quality home," he said.

"Minimum rental standards would make it easier for people who rent to be able to afford to keep their home at a decent temperature in summer."

Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) president Damian Collins said landlords were not obliged to provide air conditioning for tenants.

"The more things you make mandatory, the higher the cost of rent will be," he said.

"And ultimately, tenants have to make their own choice.

"Some people feel they need it but some people and some properties, perhaps orientated correctly, can cope perfectly fine without it.

"We'd certainly be against any mandating of air conditioning."

While landlordsdo not have to provide a property with suitable heating and cooling units, if a unit is already in a property they are required to maintain it.

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Circle Green Community Legalmanaging solicitor of tenancy Alice Pennycott said minimum standards for heating and cooling rentals were part of the organisation's submission to a review of the WA Residential Tenancies Act.

But she said that even if it cooled or heated the house effectively, inefficient or expensive-to-run air conditioning could also be an issue for tenants.

"Energy efficiency is a big one," Ms Pennycott said.

"There's a significant impact on health and wellbeing if there's issues with mould and damp during the cooler months, but also in having to choose between putting aircon on and being able to afford groceries, particularly for low-income families.

"We put forward in ourquite detailedsubmissions around getting the minimum standards for energy efficiency and health.

"I'm still waiting to hear from the [state] government as to whether that's something that they are putting in.

"I would hope that it's something that they would consider."

A spokesperson from Consumer Protection said several submissions to the review of WA's residential tenancy laws raised the issue of cooling in rental properties.

"Stakeholders suggested that adequate cooling and ceiling fans should be a minimum requirement for homes in warmer parts of WA," the spokesperson said.

"Related issues around adequate home insulation, energy efficient homes and climate change were also raised during consultation."

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Should landlords be responsible for keeping tenants cool as Perth swelters through record heat? - ABC News

Renovations and improvements can drastically improve your home, but they come in many different forms. Certain home upgrades are worth the investment and others won't add value when it's time to sell.

"When renovating, always keep in mind what is going to appeal to a future buyer when the time comes to eventually sell," explains Buyer's Advocate and avid house flipper with 25 years real estate experience, Wendy Chamberlain.

Before you jump into all the things you'd like to fix or renovate in your home, you need to do your due diligence. For anyone upgrading or renovating with an eye on recouping their investment come sale time, don't overdo it.

Avoid improving your home too much? It may sound a little strange, but it could actually price your home outside of your suburb or area. It's always good to do your research before embarking on any updates.

"Firstly, research your local area and the calibre of homes. Look at comparable listings and notice the inclusions of your competition," advises Chamberlain.

"If you're renovating a property with the primary aim to sell it, consider which updates or areas will result in the best return for every dollar spent."

These are the home improvements that are a waste of money, if you're planning to list your property.

Kitchens are tricky they also make our 'home upgrades worth the money' list. Updated kitchens do bring value, but planning a full-scale renovation and 'over renovating' may be dropping cash down the drain.

Kitchens are often the most used area of a home and if a buyer needs to update parts of a kitchen, they're more likely to change the entire area to suit their personal taste and needs. Spending money on a major renovation or adding in things like top-of-the-line appliances could lose buyers who aren't aligned with your designs or simply don't care.

"Some key areas may make the home look more modern, but ultimately, buyers may not care that much. Kitchens come to mind," says Chamberlain. "If the existing kitchen, while dated, is functional, you may get away with leaving it as is and focusing your cash and efforts elsewhere."

She references a project where a client was selling a 25-year-old home that had the original mint walls and green laminate benches in the kitchen.

"The client chose to paint the internal walls a crisp white, but the kitchen was not touched. It was functional, just out of date. As it turned out, the buyer was an investor that planned to rip the kitchen out anyway."

In addition, Chamberlain explains that trying to fix up one or two items in a kitchen can actually work against you by highlighting the problem areas: "when you change one thing, the next looks dated."

Bathrooms follow the same philosophy as kitchens. An updated space adds value, but going OTT with renovating to include marble tiles and other luxury fixtures and fittings might seem like 'wow' factor to you, but often doesn't return the value you'd expect.

"Heating and cooling are areas unlikely to provide an immediate renovation return," says Chamberlain.

A simple split system air conditioning unit will appease buyers and is affordable, but installing full ducting is a waste of money (up to $20,000 depending on the size of your home).

"Ducted heating and refrigerated cooling are expensive to install. For your reno, a cheaper yet effective split system heating/cooling unit may be just as adequate for the job."

Taking away rooms is a big no, no for re-sale value and Chamberlain also warns against trying to move or remove load-bearing walls.

"You may think opening up the space or moving walls is a great idea, but touching load bearing walls and reconfiguring a floor plan can become expensive very quickly," she explains.

"Not to mention the quickly escalating costs as soon as you need to move plumbing. If you can, stick to the existing layout and renovate the rooms and floor plan you already have."

If you're planning on living in your home for years, there are updates and maintenance that need doing in order for you to live comfortably and safely within your home. However, many of these are things you don't see such as plumbing or rewiring.

"Other big ticket items, while important, are often unseen and therefore not necessarily appreciated by buyers. These include rewiring, re-plumbing, re-stumping and needing a new roof," says Chamberlain.

"Consider each area carefully before deciding to tackle it as part of your renovation, as you may not see a return on that investment."

Adding in fancy gold tapware and marble tiles to a bathroom you're updating sounds great, but if you leave that bathroom and the rest of the home has chrome fixtures and laminate flooring, for example, the design is inconsistent and won't add the value you hope.

As Chamberlain explained earlier, changing one element can highlight the spaces that aren't updated. Keep your design consistent to create cohesion throughout a space.

When you have decided on the design elements you'd like to include throughout your home in a consistent way, remember the mantra: don't overdo it.

Installing things like top-of-the-line flooring, the latest tech, important tiles from Spain, fancy light fittings might wow some buyers at first glance, but other may not notice all the details you poured your heart and wallet into. This upper level of detail and quality is often not a return on your investment.

Similarly to bright colours, bespoke or custom high-end inclusions like an infrared sauna are often seen as personal. Buyers want to envision themselves in the space as their own. Adding these in before sale won't increase the value of your property enough to justify the outlay.

An updated outdoor area is one of the seven areas worth investing your money in (when not overdone), but swimming pools are a different and case-by-case story.

Firstly, you should be located in a climate suited to having a pool and there needs to be enough space for one. If you're not ticking these two boxes, it would be a waste of money.

In some postcodes or for properties at the higher end of the market, pools may be an expected inclusion for a home in which case, adding one will support the sale of your property. Other areas might be surrounded by schools and popular with young families, where again, a pool could work in your favour.

However, for many homeowners, pools are a headache because they mean two things: running costs and constant cleaning and maintenance.

If you're in an area with older families or retirees, a pool may act as a deterrent. It's important to go back to your research and work out what's expected and desired in your area. Installing a pool is a major cost and if it can be avoided, will save you loads of cash.

READ MORE: 7 home upgrades that are worth the investment

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8 home improvements that won't add value to your property - nine.com.au - Nine

Many climate experts say the long-term solution is to replace most of those fossil-fuel appliances with electric versions powered by a greener grid. But in practice, thats difficult. While cities like Berkeley have rewritten building codes to ban new buildings from using gas, more than a dozen mostly red states have passed laws explicitly forbidding cities from doing so. And that still leaves the question of what to do about millions of existing homes.

Stephen Pantano, the chief research officer at CLASP, said that encouraging people to install heat pumps when theyre going to buy central air-conditioners anyway could be a less intrusive way to start electrifying heating. We found that a relatively small investment of around $3 billion to $12 billion nationwide could have a big impact on energy use, he said of the groups new proposal. Its hard to find many ideas with that much bang for the buck.

An even more drastic strategy, he added, would be to figure out how to replace more gas furnaces with heat pumps, so that the heat pump handles virtually all the heating and cooling. But that could require larger heat pumps for many homes or additional electrical upgrades and other retrofits. His groups proposal for simply swapping out air-conditioners is a more modest first step.

Berkeley, which pioneered the idea of banning gas in new buildings, is now considering this approach. Only 10 percent of the citys homes currently have air-conditioning, but officials estimate that fraction could triple in the hotter decades ahead. Berkeley should work with A/C installers and heat pump manufacturers to ensure these homes install heat pump systems instead, officials wrote in a recent draft strategy for electrifying existing homes.

Its a great idea, said Jigar Shah, who directs the Department of Energys loan programs office. His office is exploring ways to help low-income Americans adopt technologies like heat pumps. Heat pumps arent some untested technology, he said. Were really in a place where its time to scale this up.

Others were more cautious. There are places where electrification may be beneficial, and places where it might not, and there are a lot of details that need to be worked out, said Francis Dietz, a spokesman for the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute, an industry trade group. If more homes relied on heat pumps instead of gas furnaces, for instance, that could put a strain on electric grids in the winter, especially in colder parts of the country, he said.

There are other obstacles, too: Many Americans still arent familiar with heat pumps, and some have had bad experiences with older models that didnt work as well in cold weather. While heat pump technology has improved significantly in the past decade, many contractors remain wary of them. And, of course, the name heat pump doesnt sound like a device you want to install when its sweltering out.

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Are Heat Pumps the Answer to Heat Waves? Some Cities Think So. - The New York Times

For the past few days, a heatwave has glowered over the Pacific Northwest, forcing temperatures in the region to a record-breaking 118F. Few people in the regionneither Americans nor Canadianshave air-conditioning. Stores sold out of new AC units in hours as a panicked public sought a reasonable solution to the emergency. Unfortunately, air-conditioning is part of whats causing the unusual heatwave in the first place.

We came close to destroying all life on Earth during the Cold War, with the threat of nuclear annihilation. But we may have come even closer during the cooling war, when the rising number of Americans with air conditionersand a refrigerant industry that fought regulationnearly obliterated the ozone layer. We avoided that environmental catastrophe, but the fundamental problem of air conditioning has never really been resolved.

Mechanical cooling appeared in the early 1900s not for comfort but for business. In manufacturing, the regulation of temperatureprocess coolingcontrolled the quality of commodities like cotton, tobacco, and chewing gum. In 1903, Alfred Wolff installed the first cooling system for people at the New York Stock Exchange because comfortable traders yielded considerably higher stock returns. Only in the 20s did commercial cooling appear. On Memorial Day weekend 1925, Willis Carrier debuted the first centrifugal air-conditioning system at the Rivoli Theater in Midtown Manhattan. Previously, theaters had shut down in the summer. With air-conditioning, the Rivoli became the talk of Broadway and inaugurated the summer blockbuster.

While other subway passengers perspire in the warm and humid underground station, Paul Forman appears cool and comfortable in the experimental air conditioned train, which made its first run in New York City, in July 1956. The test run included six air conditioned cars and two old cars. When the train left Grand Central Station, the temperature was 89 degrees in the old cars, while the new cars registered a temperature of 76.5 degrees.

Harry HarrisAP

Before World War II, almost no one had air-conditioning at home. Besides being financially impractical and culturally odd, it was also dangerous. Chemical refrigerants like sulfur dioxide and methyl chloride filled most fridges and coolers, and leaks could kill a child, poison a hospital floor, even blow up a basement. Everything changed with the invention of Freon in 1928. Non-toxic and non-explosive, Freon was hailed as a miracle. It made the modernist skyscraperwith its sealed windows and heat-absorbing materialspossible. It made living in the desert possible. The small, winter resort of Phoenix, Arizona, became a year-round attraction. Architecture could now ignore the local climate. Anywhere could be 65F with 55% humidity. Cheap materials made boxy, suburban tract housing affordable to most Americans, but the sealed-up, stifling design of these homes required air-conditioning to keep the heat at bay. Quickly, air-conditioning transitioned from a luxury to a necessity. By 1980, more than half of all U.S. homes were air-conditioned. And despite millions of Black Americans fleeing the violence of Jim Crow, the South saw greater in-migration than out-migration for the first timea direct result of AC. The American car was similarly transformed. In 1955, only 10 percent of American cars had air-conditioning. Thirty years later, it came standard.

The cooling boom also altered the way we work. Now, Americans could work anywhere at any hour of the day. Early ads for air-conditioning promised not health or comfort but productivity. The workday could proceed no matter the season or the climate. Even in the home, A/C brought comfort as a means to rest up before the next work day.

The use of air-conditioning was as symbolic as it was material. It conveyed class status. Who did and didnt have air-conditioning often fell starkly along the color line, too, especially in the South. It conquered the weather and, with it, the need to sweat or squirm or lie down in the summer swelter. In that sense, air-conditioning allowed Americans to transcend their physical bodies, that long-sought fantasy of the Puritan settlers: to be in the world but not of it. Miracle, indeed.

A theater's lobby advertises air conditioning to prospective movie-goers.

LMPC/Getty Images

But it came with a price. As it turned out, Freon isnt exactly non-toxic. Freon is a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), which depletes the ozone layer and also acts as a global warming gas. By 1974, the industrialized world was churning out CFCs, chemicals that had never appeared on the planet in any significant quantities, at a rate of one million metric tons a yearthe equivalent mass of more than 500,000 cars. That was the year atmospheric chemists Sherry Rowland and Mario Molina first hypothesized that the chlorine molecules in CFCs might be destroying ozone in the stratosphere by bonding to free oxygen atoms and disrupting the atmospheres delicate chemistry. By then, CFCs were used not only as refrigerants but also as spray can propellants, manufacturing degreasers, and foam-blowing agents.

The ozone layer absorbs the worst of the suns ultraviolet radiation. Without stratospheric ozone, life as we know it is impossible. A 1 percent decline in the ozone layers thickness results in thousands of new cases of skin cancer. Greater depletion would lead to crop failures, the collapse of oceanic food systems, and, eventually, the destruction of all life on Earth.

In the 1980s, geophysicist Joseph Farman confirmed the Rowland-Molina hypothesis when he detected a near-absence of ozone over Antarcticathe Ozone Hole. A fierce battle ensued among industry, scientists, environmentalists, and politicians, but in 1987 the U.S signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which ended Freon production.

The Montreal Protocol remains the worlds only successful international environmental treaty with legally binding emissions targets. Annual conferences to re-assess the goals of the treaty make it a living document, which is revised in light of up-to-date scientific data. For instance, the Montreal Protocol set out only to slow production of CFCs, but, by 1997, industrialized countries had stopped production entirely, far sooner than was thought possible. The world was saved through global cooperation.

The trouble is that the refrigerants replacing CFCs, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), turned out to be terrible for the planet, too. While they have an ozone-depleting potential of zero, they are potent greenhouse gases. They absorb infrared radiation from the sun and Earth and block heat that normally escapes into outer space. Carbon dioxide and methane do this too, but HFCs trap heat at rates thousands of times higher. Although the number of refrigerant molecules in the atmosphere is far fewer than those of other greenhouse gases, their destructive force, molecule for molecule, is far greater.

Angela Eaton grooms "Dutchess" inside "House Calls" trailer in 1982. The unit is equipped with a bath, heater, air conditioner and dryer.

Ed MakerThe Denver Post/Getty Images

In three decades, the production of HFCs grew exponentially. Today, HFCs provide the cooling power to almost any air conditioner in the home, in the office, in the supermarket, or in the car. They cool vaccines, blood for transfusions, and temperature-sensitive medications, as well as the data processors and computer servers that make up the interneteverything from the cloud to blockchains. In 2019, annual global warming emissions from HFCs were the equivalent of 175 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

In May, the EPA signaled it will begin phasing down HFCs and replacing them with more climate-friendly alternatives. Experts agree that a swift end to HFCs could prevent as much as 0.5C of warming over the next centurya third of the way to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Yet regardless of the refrigerant used, cooling still requires energy. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, air-conditioning accounts for nearly a fifth of annual U.S. residential electricity use. This is more energy for cooling overall and per capita than in any other nation. Most Americans consider the cost of energy only in terms of their electricity bills. But its also costing us the planet. Joe Bidens announcement to shift toward a renewable energy infrastructure obscures the uncertainty of whether that infrastructure could meet Americans outrageously high energy demandmuch of it for cooling that doesnt save lives. Renewable energy infrastructure can take us only so far. The rest of the work is cultural. From Freon to HFCs, we keep replacing chemical refrigerants without taking a hard look at why were cooling in the first place.

Comfort cooling began not as a survival strategy but as a business venture. It still carries all those symbolic meanings, though its currency now works globally, cleaving the world into civilized cooling and barbaric heat. Despite what we assume, as a means of weathering a heat wave, individual air-conditioning is terribly ineffective. It works only for those who can afford it. But even then, their use in urban areas only makes the surrounding micro-climate hotter, sometimes by a factor of 10F, actively threatening the lives of those who dont have access to cooling. (The sociologist Eric Klinenberg has brilliantly studied how, in a 1995 Chicago heat wave, about twice as many people died than in a comparable heat wave forty years earlier due to the citys neglect of certain neighborhoods and social infrastructure.) Ironically, research suggests that exposure to constant air-conditioning can prevent our bodies from acclimatizing to hot weather, so those who subject themselves to thermal monotony are, in the end, making themselves more vulnerable to heat-related illness.

Luke Peters, left, and Elliott Thomas install a mini-split heating and air conditioning system at a home in Seattle on June 23, 2021. A heat wave soon set records across the region.

Ruth FremsonThe New York Times/Redux

And, of course, air-conditioning only works when you have the electricity to power it. During heatwaves, when air-conditioning is needed most, blackouts are frequent. On Sunday, with afternoon temperatures reaching 112F around Portland, the power grid failed for more than 6,300 residences under control by Portland General Electrics.

The troubled history of air-conditioning suggests not that we chuck it entirely but that we focus on public cooling, on public comfort, rather than individual cooling, on individual comfort. Ensuring that the most vulnerable among the planets human inhabitants can keep cool through better access to public cooling centers, shade-giving trees, safe green spaces, water infrastructure to cool, and smart design will not only enrich our cities overall, it will lower the temperature for everyone. Its far more efficient this way.

To do so, well have to re-orient ourselves to the meaning of air-conditioning. And to comfort. Privatized air-conditioning survived the ozone crisis, but its power to separateby class, by race, by nation, by abilityhas survived, too. Comfort for some comes at the expense of the life on this planet.

Its time we become more comfortable with discomfort. Our survival may depend on it.

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AC Feels Great, But It's Terrible for the Planet. Here's How to Fix That - TIME

Gif: Elena Scotti (Photos: Getty Images)

It took nearly 170 years, but geothermal heat pumps are finally ready to have a moment. The poorly named appliancetheyheat and cool buildingscould be the key to ensuring our homes are more comfortable and climate pollution-free.

The world is in a zero-sum race to electrify everything and prepare our homes, apartments, and offices for the climate crisis. Using the ground as a natural source of heating and cooling and electricity to move that warmth or chill into homes would be a huge step to do just that, allowing us to kick fossil fuels and climate-damaging chemicals. And with the federal and more state governments catching onto their benefits and offering incentives to install them, its heat pumps time to shine.

When Lord Kelvinyes, the guy for which Kelvin temperature is named afterconceived of the general idea of a heat pump in an 1852 journal article, climate change was not on his mind. In fact, his concept for the heat pump arose in part from figuring out how to use coal more efficiently to heat homes in the UK winter and cool them in the tropics. In the article, published in the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, he called for something with the properties of a perfect thermo-dynamic engine, which makes a heat pump sound absolutely incredible.

Kelvin envisioned a steam engine or another machine that evaporated or condensed liquid to generate heat or cooling. The air would be circulated to other locations through a cylinder while another cylinder pulled air from that location. His concept was never built, but it became the foundation for what was to come in the 20th century, including heat pumps that relied not on steam engines or coal but another source of near constant temperature: the ground.

Its those geothermal heat pumps, the first of which as patented in 1912, that could now be key to ensuring no-carbon homes of the future. (Yes, there are air and even water heat pumps, but were focusing largely on geothermal here.) The upper 300 feet (91 meters) or so of the Earths crust is a fairly constant temperature in the 50s. That makes it an ideal place to pump or dump heat depending on the season. A heat pump does this by running either a loop or a long, straight run of pipe filled with anti-freeze into the ground and connecting to a building where a pump inside that blows over the coils and disperses the air. In the winter, it essentially pulls heat out of the air coming from the ground and blows it into your home. In the summer, the opposite happens. If you want to go wild, This Old House can tell you some of the specifics.

The reason why heat pumps are essential for the homes of 2030 has to do with what they dont require: fossil fuels. Theres no propane, oil, gas, or coal, all fuels used to heat buildings. They not only produce carbon dioxide but also a host of other dangerous air pollutants.

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We burn stuff in the house and blow air across it and it could possibly kill us, Joanne Huang, a special projects lead at Otherlab and co-founder and CEO of heat pump startup Sensible Storage, said, describing how furnaces work in terms that made me slightly nervous. Ultimately, our grandkids are going to be like, you did what, you piped flammable gas into your homes and blew air across the in the early 2000s? And well be like, yes, and we had carbon monoxide detectors to make sure we didnt die.

Geothermal heat pumps lowering the chance of death by explosion seems like reason enough to consider them for more widescale use (they currently only comprise about 1% of all home heating and cooling systems). But its the carbon benefits that makes them so invaluable as we consider what to do with our homes, offices, and other buildings in the face of the climate crisis. A United Nations report published late last year found that buildings account for 38% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions, a percentage thats rising. Among the factors for the uptick is wasteful energy use tied to heating and cooling.

Heat pumps are wildly efficient compared to fossil fuel sources of heating and cooling, and they run solely on electricity. While its true that much of the grid is still powered by coal and natural gas, thus meaning your clean-in-the-home heat pump might be powered by a dirty power plant, that is changing. Its also markedly easier to regulate emissions at the 3,300 or so fossil fuel power plants in the U.S. than whats sitting in the basements of the countrys nearly 140 million homes. Heat pumps also lightly sip on electricity, making them much more efficient than fossil-fueled furnaces and air conditioners.

A growing number of companies like Huangs see a chance for heat pumps to be synched up with rooftop solar, creating an all-in-one clean energy, heating, and cooling system. (Sensibles system, as well as other heat pump setups, can also be used to provide hot water, adding even more value for owners.)

The main thing keeping heat pumps from going mainstreamaside from their horrible name that fails to properly highlight their wondersis the upfront cost. A heat pump can run anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 more than the average gas furnace. While theyre more efficient and will pay off over time, thats a huge chunk of change to pony up. Innovations like vertically integrating the installation process could help bring costs down. But relying on the free market alone isnt the answer, and governments will have a crucial role to play to speed up adoption.

Geothermal is always viewed as an expensive technology, and its been segregated or pushed over to the custom home, said Tim Wright, the vice president of sales for geothermal manufacturer Enertech. People have the idea that if Im not building a mansion or building a custom home, this really isnt for me.

This is so untrue, he added in an email. Everyone can benefit from this technology and will realize a monthly positive cash flow and have the most advanced, carbon reducing system available in the marketplace today.

Installing a geothermal heat pump also involves some serious machinery. Drilling dozens or even hundreds of feet into the Earths surface requires large drilling rigs that are fine in new developments where houses are being built, but really challenging to maneuver into existing neighborhoods. Beyond a specialized drilling rig and operator, homeowners also need to hire various contractors to do the rest of the installation. Its a hassle and a costly one at that.

Companies like Dandelion Energy, a startup that spun out of Googles X lab, are working to bring some of those costs down by being a one-stop shop. Kathy Hannun, the co-founder of Dandelion, said she and her partners spun the company out of X because it wasnt about creating a moonshot breakthrough technology but how to figure out scaling up something already in existence and desperately needed on the market.

We spend a lot of time thinking about how we make this customer experience better, she said. How do we make it simpler to install these things? How do we bring the cost down? Its more engineering and product work versus fundamental research. And it didnt require us to spend a decade doing research in order to come up with something. Its actually the type of sound problem where its much better to launch and iterate quickly and learn from customers.

The company is currently up and running in New York, a state that could use a lot of upgrades. Its the top state in the country for using home heating oil. (I grew up in Massachusetts, number three on the list and where my grandfather ran a home heating oil business, and didnt realize until well into my adult life how weird it is to use oil to heat homes.) The state also offers incentives that Hannun said have improved as Dandelion and other companies drove an uptick in heat pump installations, creating a type of virtuous cycle.

Weve just shown that people do want to get off of fossil fuels, she said. People want to move to heat pumps provided the price is acceptable, and theyre convinced it will heat and cool effectively. So, I think thats a huge step forward.

Getting costs down is of utmost importance to ensure that poorer households arent left behind. Those households already spend a disproportionate amount of their income on utilities, and if incentives arent aligned to help ensure theyre among the first adopters instead of the last, it will widen the inequality gap further. Another startup, BlocPower, is focused on doing just that by installing heat pumps and other energy-saving measures in 1,100 low-income buildings in New York City and the vicinity. But more incentives and regulations could help bring clean heating and cooling even more within reach. As clean energy group Rewiring America put it in an exhaustive 2020 report, We simply wont solve climate change if we dont figure out how to help everyone afford the future.

There are political forces to overcome for heat pumps to meet the moment and be in a growing number of homes by 2030. The U.S. lags well behind countries like Japan, Sweden, and Germany in heat pump installation, in part because those countries lack the U.S.s seemingly endless supply of natural gas. The rise of natural gas in the U.S. threatens to derail the climate, but it also has some powerful backers in the form of oil majors, Republicans, and even some Democrats like President Joe Bidens international climate advisor John Kerry. Utilities heavily invested in gas are also deadset against any regulations that would curtail its use like local gas bans or rolling back gimmes like a rule in New York that lets utilities provide a hookup for gas to any home within 100 feet (31 meters) of a gas line.

They could give that home a free geothermal system more often for less than the cost of connecting to the gas line, Hannun said. Theres a lot of built-in policy structure like that that makes it so that the playing field isnt quite even yet between an electrification technology and a fossil fuel technology. As we see more states trying to encourage electrification, I think its were getting closer.

Those types of rules have to go, though, or we risk locking in more and more homes to the heating source of the past rather than the future for years to come. Letting that happen is an impediment to the good life for millions of people.

Wright said seeking longer term incentives at the federal level for geothermal heating and cooling could also further speed up the development and market adoption. And more importantly, he noted that government and state and local utilities should ensure those incentives dont disappear to level the playing field with fossil fuel systems and giving homeowners, builders, developers, architects, engineers, everybody that long runway to plan. An analysis from Rewiring America and the Center for American Progress put out in early June shows that a program that offers low-to-moderate income households $6,500 and everyone else $5,000 in rebates on heat pumps could spur fairly rapid adoption and climate benefits. The cost would be $77.4 billion but would save 112.5 million tons of carbon pollution, or a roughly 47% dip from the start of the decade. A report by the Sierra Club published last year mirrors those findings, and shows the emissions reductions are equivalent to half the country giving up driving.

More incentives for developers could also lead to even bigger gains in district geothermal heat pump systems that heat and cool entire neighborhoods, which Wright said is already becoming the next frontier. But waiting for the frontier to come rather than running to meet it is the name of the game for heat pumps and home electrification.

The time is now. You cannot wait, Huang said. To build it smart from the beginning, to drive that low cost, and then stick it into the market in a place where its really going to make an impact sooner rather than later. We just dont have the time to wait.

Excerpt from:
Heat Pumps Are Ready to Have a Moment - Gizmodo

As employees and students prepare for their return to offices and classrooms, an NBC Bay Area investigation reveals a surprising lack of oversight regarding indoor air quality, which may have led to more COVID-19 infections and deaths. Experts argue the problem existed well before the pandemic and continues to threaten workplaces and schools across the country.

A lack of education, awareness, and accountability may be leading to hazardous indoor air conditions inside a wide array of buildings throughout the nation. One study found 85% of classrooms had inadequate air ventilation, allowing toxins to accumulate.

People cannot tell that a space is under ventilated.

People cannot tell that a space is under ventilated, said Theresa Pistochini, Co-Director of Engineering at UC Davis and an expert on air ventilation and filtration systems. It's extremely difficult. We can be walking around in these spaces withjust no awareness.

Pistochini, who helps run the Western Cooling Efficiency Center and the Energy Efficiency Institute at UC Davis, says indoor spaces are often loaded with a cocktail of chemicals that either gas off from building materials or are brought in from the outdoors.

We're all breathing these respiratory aerosols, she said. So the purpose of ventilation is to dilute all of that.

Many products used in offices, such as cleansers and pesticides, can emit dangerous pollutants, so its critical the building's heating and cooling system ventilate and filter air effectively, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mechanical engineer Theresa Pistochini helps run the Western Cooling Efficiency Center at UC Davis and is an expert in air filtration and ventilation systems.

Watch these previous Investigative Unit stories to learn more about how office buildings are utilizing new technology to transform their spaces into safer and innovative work stations for employees

To explain the power of air filtration and ventilation, Pitstochini suggests imagining what it would take to clean a swimming pool after someone tossed mounds of glitter into the water.

You can dump some of that pool water with the glitter and bring in fresh water -- that's what ventilation is, she explained. Or, you can run your water through a filter and pull out the little particles, she said, adding that if that filtering and dilution does not happen, aerosols will just build up and build up and build up and you have no way to get them out.

Pistochini and her colleagues at UC Davis have also posted animated videos to thoughtfully explain the significance of both air filtration and ventilation.

Pistochini said there remains a surprising lack of oversight when it comes to air quality in buildings. For example, she says, offices do not have to prove they regularly inspect their ventilation and filtration systems.

When Pistochini examined 94 school classrooms in California, she found 85% did not have adequate ventilation, even though their heating and cooling systems were recently installed.

"Increased oversight of HVAC replacements, or other ways to address widespread inadequate ventilation in California classrooms, are needed, likely through state intervention," said Pistochini, following the release of her 2019 study.

Other studies have shown increasing ventilation rates can lead to "statistically significant improvements" in both health and student performance, according to research collected by UC Davis.

Pistochini now suggests installing carbon dioxide monitors in all buildings, from schools to offices. They cost about $100 and let you know if there are high levels of carbon dioxide in the air thats usually an indication of poor ventilation, so the monitors could help warn you about potentially dangerous conditions.

If we had dealt with all these ventilation infiltration problems before the pandemic...we might have had less closures, less lock downs - we might have had less people die, said Pistochini. Poorly ventilated buildings increase the infection rate.

Carbon dioxide monitors warn you about high levels of CO2, which is likely a sign the area is suffering from poor ventilation. Experts recommend the monitors as a relatively cheap way to be alerted about poor indoor air quality.

While free food, games, and massages have previously some of the most talked about office extras in Silicon Valley, now cleaner air, flexible workspaces, and the opportunity to work remotely are attracting much of the spotlight as employees begin the migration back into the office.

Improving indoor air quality and embracing a more hybrid work environment are top priorities for GitHub, a San Francisco-based tech company that boasts 2,300 employees across seven different offices, including four abroad.

We've worked with our building management at all of our sites across the world to ensure that we have the highest grade of air filters in place," said Erica Brescia, the companys Chief Operating Officer."We're keeping operable windows open whenever possible.

Erica Brescia, Chief Operating Officer at GitHub, says companies unwilling to accommodate a mixture of remote and in-person workers are likely to fall behind in what has become an increasingly competitive landscape to recruit top talent in the midst of the pandemic.

GitHub underwent a multi-million dollar renovation at its San Francisco headquarters during the pandemic, aiming to create a safer and more innovative environment for a post-pandemic workforce.

You need to be able to support the diverse ways that people want to work and give them flexibility. I really believe that flexibility is the key.

The company expects more than 80 percent of its employees to continue working remotely - indefinitely. Brescia says the company began embracing remote work long before the pandemic, allowing about 70 percent of its workforce to log in remotely prior to Covid-19.

"We expect most people who used to come into the office every single day to come in two to three days a week," Brescia said. "You need to be able to support the diverse ways that people want to work and give them flexibility. I really believe that flexibility is the key.

GitHub employees demonstrate the teleconferencing capabilities of one of their new conference rooms, which features larger screens that can broadcast images of workers joining remotely.

As a result, the company has outfitted more meeting rooms to better handle video conferencing. There are bigger screens, so those not in the room appear just as large and represented as those attending in person.

GitHub also constructed a new amphitheater, stage, and control booth that can easily stream company meetings to other employees working remotely.

"The way that people work is changing forever, Brescia said. This is just accelerated a trend that was inevitable and I think companies that don't understand that are really going to fall behind.

Walking through the GitHub offices in San Franciscos SOMA district, its impossible not to notice the extensive network of metal ducts that support the buildings heating and cooling network. At the heart of the buildings HVAC system are newly replaced air filters, which are designed to improve air quality by keeping out dust, bacteria, and other harmful particles.

An architectural rendering shows a new amphitheater and stage inside the GitHub headquarters in San Francisco. The workspace was designed to easily hold in-person meetings that could also be broadcast to employees working remotely.

Air filter quality is measured on a 1 to 16 scale through what's known as a MERV rating Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. Filters with the largest ratings can block the smallest particles. The highest rated filters are generally reserved for hospitals and other medical facilities. Prior to COVID, most office buildings relied on a 6 or 7 MERV rating, but now international guidelines suggest workplaces upgrade to a MERV 13 air filter.

ASHRAE, a global society that advocates for energy efficiency and indoor air quality within the heating and cooling industry, released that air filter recommendation as well as other suggested safety protocols during the height of the pandemic last year. MERV 13 air filters are able to block more than 85 percent of fine particles that measure between 1 to 3 microns -- that's about 30 times smaller than a single strand of hair, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA also has its own list of tips and resources to ensure safe indoor air quality inside office buildings.

As part of its renovation, GitHub installed new MERV 13 air filters at its San Francisco headquarters.

We built these spaces to give employees a place to come together and collaborate, said Brescia. If they don't feel safe, they're not going to do their best work, so what's the point?

Air quality experts recommend office buildings upgrade their air filters, which are ranked from one to 16 on the MERV scale (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values). Prior to the pandemic, work places generally relied on mid-range filters, MERV 6 or 7. However, office buildings are now encouraged to install MERV 13 air filters to block dust, bacteria, and other harmful particles from entering a building's air supply.

Ninety-two percent of building owners expect the demand for healthy offices to continue to grow over the next three years, according to a survey by the Center for Active Design.

"[Customers] want the air to be clean I hear that pretty often," said Pablo Richards, who owns San Francisco Heating and Cooling. "Even with the vaccine, people are still concerned about air quality."

San Francisco Heating and Cooling, which installs and services air conditioning and heating units across the Bay Area, tells the Investigative Unit business is up 50 percent compared to just before the pandemic. Some businesses are even asking for $1,500 ultraviolent lights to be installed in the air ducts to help kill airborne diseases like COVID-19.

San Francisco Heating and Cooling, which installs and services HVAC systems across the Bay Area, says business is up at least 50 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. Home and business owners are requesting more maintenance inspections of their filtration systems and inquiring about special ultraviolet lights that can be installed in air ducts to kill airborne diseases like COVID-19.

For more than 20 years, the U.S. Green Building Council has offered its LEED certification as a way to recognize environmentally friendly buildings. However, it recently expanded to now include pandemic-inspired recommendations such as new protocols for disinfecting the office and regular maintenance checks of your heating and cooling systems.

We may see some of those practices become part of building code and really drive mandatory practices within buildings, said Melissa Baker, senior vice president with the US Green Building Council.

Since LEED's new Covid-related building recommendations first launched in June 2020, at least 65 construction projects have been certified for following the new guidelines and another 356 are still pending. While those 421 projects only represent about 10 percent of the total amount of projects that sought LEED certification during the pandemic, Baker is optimistic more businesses will eventually opt to adopt the pandemic-inspired guidelines.

I think we all, as individuals, have to care ... so that we can be sure that when the next time comes, or whatever happens next, we are ready and our buildings are ready to support us.

"That's our hope, at least, that it does become common practice," Baker said. "I think we all, as individuals, have to care ... so that we can be sure that when the next time comes, or whatever happens next, we are ready and our buildings are ready to support us."

If enough public demand grows for the recommendations, state and local lawmakers could eventually take notice and ultimately decide to make those voluntary guidelines mandatory by incorporating them into future building codes.

"Hopefully, someday, we'll put ourselves out of business," Baker said. "I don't think we're there yet."

Melissa Baker is senior vice president with the U.S. Green Building Council, which expanded its green-building certification program, known as LEED, to also include pandemic-inspired recommendations in order to make facilities and structures safer in the midst of COVID-19.

While building codes do require businesses to have their air conditioning and heating systems inspected prior to opening, those state and local regulations often don't carry much authority once a facility passes the initial permitting process and is allowed to open its doors. Those codes largely govern new buildings and often don't exercise much authority over existing structures.

"A building is a lot like a car," Baker explained. "If you don't change your filters, if you don't change the oil...you're going to see poor performance.

Each building is expected to perform periodic maintenance on its own, with little or no oversight, according to industry experts. Unlike mandatory fire or elevator inspections, there are no regulations requiring special inspectors to perform routine maintenance assessments of a building's air ventilation or filtration systems.

"We should be asking [building operators] to prove it," said Pistochini. "How do you know that your building is well ventilated and filtered? What evidence can you provide?"

For now, its up to individual businesses to decide what kind of protections they want in place at the office, and how much theyre willing to pay for it.

GitHub, which provides a web-based platform for software designers, employs 2,300 workers in the U.S. and abroad

At GitHub, Erica Brescia says itd be too costly not to buy in to the changes.

Covid isn't the only thing that makes us sick, said Brescia. "I'm very optimistic that with all the additional measures that we've put in place, we'll be able to help keep employees healthier during flu season and other ailments that pass through.

More here:
Worried About Returning to the Office? What to Ask Your Boss to Ensure You're Safe - NBC Bay Area

By Kristen Rogers, CNN

(CNN) -- If you're one of the more than 20 million people experiencing the Northwest heat wave, you might be wondering how to stay cool, particularly if you don't have air conditioning -- or don't want to run it constantly.

US cities and Canada have been reporting their hottest temperatures, some of which are still rising above 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you don't yet feel comfortable going to a pool or air-conditioned public facility at this point of the pandemic, there are ways to feel comfortable without cranking the air conditioning unit or going without. Here are more than 12 methods for cooling your body and buffering your house from the outside heat.

When you're hot and flushed, hydrating yourself is the first and foremost step to cooling down, said Wendell Porter, a senior lecturer in agricultural and biological engineering at the University of Florida.

The temperature of the water doesn't matter since your body will heat it, he added. If your body is suffering from the heat and needs to cool itself, it can't do that without enough moisture, since thebody cools itself by sweating.

Taking a cold shower or bath helps cool your body by lowering your core temperature, Porter said.

For an extra cool blast, try peppermint soap. The menthol in peppermint oil activates brain receptors that tell your bodysomething you're eating or feeling is cold.

Place a cold washrag or ice bags (packs)on your wrists or drape it around your neck to cool your body. These pulse points are areas where blood vessels are close to the skin, so you'll cool down more quickly.

Place box fans facing out of the windows of rooms you're spending time in to blow out hot air and replace it with cold air inside.

If the weather in your area tends to fall between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the mornings and evenings, opening the windows on both sides of the house during those times can facilitate a cross-flow ventilation system. If you do this, you can opt to use or not use the fans, but the fans would help cool the house faster, Porter said.The outdoors can pull the hot air from your home, leaving a cooler temperature or bringing in the breeze. Just be sure to close windowsas the sun comes out, then open them when the weather is cool again.

You might not typically leave windows openfor safety reasons, but if you're at home more anyway due to the pandemic, this method could be feasible, Porter said.

Just resting near a fan would reduce your body temperature as well.

If you have windows that face the sun's direction in the morning through afternoon, close the curtains or blinds over them to "keep the sun from coming directly into the house and heating up (the) inside," Porter said.

You could also install blackout curtains to insulate the room and reduce temperature increases that would happen during the day.

If you do turn the air conditioning on, don't setit below 70 degrees Fahrenheit in an effort to cool the house faster, said Samantha Hall, managing director of Spaces Alive, a design research company helping to create healthy, sustainable buildings.

"It just runs for longer to reach that temp and will keep going until you start to feel a bit chilly and is then hard to balance," she added. Instead, keep the unit temperature as high as possible while still comfortable.

Cotton is one of the most breathable materials, so cotton sheets or blankets could help keep you cool through the night.

The lower the thread count of the cotton, the more breathable it is, Porter said. That's because higher thread counts have more weaving per square inch.

If you can't sleep through the night because you're too hot, try sleeping somewhere besides your bedroom, if that's an option. Heat rises, so if you have a lower or basement level in your home, set up a temporary sleeping area there to experience cooler temperatures at night.

Common advice for staying cool without air conditioning includes refrigerating or freezing wet socks, blankets or clothing then ringing them outto wear while you sleep. But this isn't a good idea, Porter said.

"The amount of energy they can absorb from your body that night, they will be warm in just a matter of minutes," he said. "And then you'd have damp stuff that would mold your mattress. So you definitely don't want to do that."

If no one's using a room that doesn't have vents or registers, close the door to that areato keep the cool air confined to only occupied areas of the house.

Flip the switch for the exhaust fan in your kitchen to pull hot air that rises after you cook or in your bathroom to draw out steam after you shower.

Incandescent light bulbs generate a higher temperature than LED light bulbs do. To make the switch, watch for sales on energy-efficient bulbs, then slowly replace the bulbs in your house, Porter said.

Switching light bulbs can save money but won't reduce a lot of heat in the home, Hall said. However, if you focus on switching the bulbs in areas you're sitting near, that would make a more noticeable difference, Porter said.

Oven heat can spread throughout your house. Keep the heat centralized in one area, such as a slow cooker. Or, cook outdoorson a grill to keep the heat outside.

Eating an ice pop or ice cream to cool down may help for a moment. But don't go overboard on the sugar if you're overheated or at risk of being overheated, Porter said.

"Sugar would run your metabolism up and you'd start feeling internally hot," he said. "So the cool treat might be good, but the extra sugar might not."

If you've tried everything and still can't beat the heat at home, you could look online for any local programs that are offering ductless air conditioners.

Depending on your state, some cooling centers -- air-conditioned public facilities where people might go for relief during extremely hot weather -- may be open and taking precautions to ensure they're as safe as possible. You could start by checking with your local utility offices, as they would know who is offering certain programs, Porter recommended.

The-CNN-Wire & 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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How to stay cool without air conditioning - Milwaukee - WDJT

Syracuse, N.Y. For three straight nights this week, Syracuse set records for the hottest nighttime temperatures.

Its an extension of a long-term trend of increasingly hotter summer nights: Syracuses nighttime lows are about a degree warmer than they were a decade ago. And while high temperatures get headlines, hot temperatures overnight are of equal or greater concern for human health.

High nighttime temperatures are dangerous because if somebodys body temperature is elevated, it doesnt come down as much or as quickly, said Nicholas Rajkovich, an architecture professor at University of Buffalo who researches the effect of climate change on buildings and people. With people who dont have access to air conditioning or other kinds of cooling, over the course of a couple of days it can cause physiological problems like heat stroke or heart attacks.

Excess heat directly kills an average of 700 Americans each year, more than any other weather-related cause, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The toll is likely greater than that: Studies indicate that hotter nighttime temperatures can increase the chances for stroke and heart attacks, and can cause poor sleep, which can lead to longer-term health problems.

Its getting hotter in the summer in Syracuse, especially at night, according to new normal temperatures calculated this year by the National Weather Service. While Syracuses average high temperature in summer is about a half-degree hotter than it used to be, summertime lows are nearly a full degree higher.

Its not just Syracuse: Unusually hot low temperatures have risen faster across the continental U.S. than high temperatures, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Nighttime heat is especially hard on people who have a hard time regulating their temperature, including the elderly and those with chronic conditions, including diseases of the heart, kidneys and lungs. In addition, the elderly and those with chronic conditions are more likely to take medicines that can cause dehydration or restrict sweating.

People with heart disease can be on medications that try to keep them dry to begin with, so theyre not as able to control their body temperature through sweating, said Dr. Kathryn Watson, an emergency medicine specialist at St. Josephs Health.

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Syracuse set or tied records for the hottest nighttime temperature recorded on those dates since records began in 1902. Monday nights lowest temperature was a stifling 78 degrees. The temperature Sunday night and Monday morning was worse, never falling below 81.

And those were outdoor temperatures; in stuffy houses and apartments that had soaked up the days heat and stored it into the night, it was even hotter.

The heat was bad enough, but on some nights this week humidity soared into the 90% range, making it difficult for sweat to leave the body and take heat with it.

Primarily the way we cool our bodies is through evaporation, and evaporation becomes extra inefficient when the humidity goes over 75%, said Dr. William Paolo, chair of emergency medicine at Upstate Medical University. Now you have extreme heat during the day without cooling down at night, plus humidity that wont allow for cooling. Thats a bad combination when an individual needs a reprieve from the heat.

The problem is worst in apartment buildings in Syracuse, said Sally Ward, director of energy and housing for PEACE, Inc., a local nonprofit.

Heat rises, and you get to the top floors of some of these apartment complexes and its brutally hot, Ward said. We have a concrete jungle effect here.

PEACE is one of 18 local contractors that installs the window air-conditioning units for low-income people who have medical conditions exacerbated by heat. Those include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and autoimmune conditions, Ward said.

In Syracuses third-hottest June on record, its not surprising that more people are applying for the air-conditioning units this year.

Last year, we did a total of 84 from May until September, Ward said. Were already at 60, and we have all of July and August to go.

Other contractors in Onondaga and Oswego counties are likely just as busy, she said. To apply for the air-conditioning program, call 315-435-2700, ext. 1.

Air-conditioning can be a lifesaver, but we need to make other changes to keep people healthy as the climate warms, Rajkovich said. Some people cant afford to buy or run air conditioners, he said, and others are reluctant to install them for fear someone could break in the window.

Rajkovich says we need to look at other ways to keep houses cooler, such as adding insulation, installing energy-efficient windows, using reflective colors on roofing and siding, and improving air flow inside homes. State and local governments offer programs to help people afford those improvements, he said.

Running air-conditioners should be a last resort, he said, because they help burn the very fossil fuels that are heating up the climate in the first place.

Air-conditioning was invented in Syracuse, but Im hoping we can figure out something where we just dont add a lot of greenhouse gases to stay cool, Rajkovich said. Syracuse has always had hot summers, but its going to get even hotter in the future.

READ MORE

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Upstate NY cities named among best climate havens as the world grow hotter

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Summer nights in Syracuse are getting hotter, and that could make people sicker - syracuse.com

Its hot almost everywhere in this country right now.

Air conditioners are straining. The words heat dome are in the news. Climate change is being discussed.

Were going to ask you, the B and B, a question that can be answered without relating to cars how do you beat the heat?

Do you crank the A/C in your car, maybe on recirc? Sunroof open but windows up and A/C on? Windows down, even if you have A/C? Or have you bought a convertible?

While wed like to keep this related to cars, feel free to tell us how you keep cool at home, too. Im making my two window units work, and they work reasonably well, but they dont cover the whole place the kitchen and bathroom arent nearly as cool as the living and dining rooms and (thank God) the bedroom.

Still, sometimes I wish I lived in a newer building with central air.

Anyway, tell us how youre staying cool. Hopefully reading TTAC is part of the deal.

[Image: Wild Jack Photography/Shutterstock.com]

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