Nothing like a heatwave to make you abandon your eco principles
Chicago City Hall's green roof, which reduces the surface temperature by up to 80°F compared to normal buildings
Last month, I had one of those moments that makes you realise that how much you’ve changed without even noticing. I was talking to a London-based friend who was worried about how much worse the summer would make her baby’s sleep habits (or lack thereof). I suggested they get a window air con unit – the kind that cools pretty much every apartment in NYC that doesn’t already have central air. “We could never get one of them,” she said, almost shocked. Her reason? Not money, or the fact that you hardly see them in the UK, or worries that the wooden frame sash window wouldn’t hold the weight. No: because they’re bad for the environment.
And she’s right. Today, temperatures have officially topped 100°F (nearly 38°C), and the power companies are worried about blackouts as everyone cranks up the AC. I try not to have it on too much (unlike when my other half is home, who insists he is a heat-making machine and I just don’t understand what it’s like, etc). When I do have it on overnight, I set it to 77 or 78°F (25°C), which is cool enough for me to get to sleep under a sheet, and still a hell of a lot warmer than whatever bone-chilling temperature most offices and stores are set to here.
But there are some less energy-demanding things you can do to reduce your environmental impact (and your electricity bills). For one, you could buy some of these hardcore light blocking blinds, which the lovely people at Home Depot cut to size for nothing, as they’ll be doing for me tomorrow afternoon. Want to go further? Paint your roof white to reflect heat, as Obama’s Nobel-winning energy secretary has suggested. Even better: turning your roof green with a roof garden, or even just a hardy kind of moss, will not just keep your home cooler in summer but also insulate in winter. As with so many eco-innovations, the Germans are already at it in droves. Yet another thing they’ve beat us at.
