TURN OFF THE A.C. AND WATCH PROSPERITY PLUMMET

 

By Bill Dunn

 

In his recent opinion piece in Time magazine, “Kill Your Air Conditioner,” political writer Joe Klein exclaimed the “unnecessary refrigeration of America has become a chronic disease.” He lamented how much energy is consumed by air conditioning and flatly stated, “Air conditioning is bad for the planet.”

By Klein’s own admission, air conditioning accounts for only 4-percent of America’s total energy use, but he would like to see Barack Obama and John McCain “call for an immediate 5 degree thermostat adjustment,” concluding that if we all make our homes and work places more uncomfortable, we will finally be doing our part to save the world.

Klein acknowledged he enjoys warm, humid weather, and the only air conditioner he owns is in his car, but he never uses it. So the sacrifice Klein demands from all Americans actually would not affect him.

Sadly, the main message that permeates Klein’s article is not the hyperbolic rhetoric or the dubious statistics regarding air conditioning; it is the abject distain Joe Klein has for America’s prosperity. He seems genuinely ashamed that America is successful, and apparently the only way we can repent of this terrible sin is to turn back the clock to 1908.

As often happens when do-gooders are discussing anything, and as always happens when do-gooders are discussing the environment, Klein puts feelings ahead of facts.

Klein feels we will save precious energy resources if we turn up our thermostats and make our indoor spaces less comfortable. But he has no clue that if we did so, the positive savings in energy would be dwarfed by a massive loss in productivity.

Before I explain why, I should note that unlike Joe Klein, I do not like hot and humid weather. Frankly, I sweat in January. When the sweltering summer months roll around, I don’t prefer air conditioning, I need it. And in the interest of full disclosure, I work for a firm that sells commercial ventilation equipment, and in 2007 I served as president of the Connecticut chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). So air conditioning not only makes me comfortable, it pays my mortgage and helps put my kids through college.

Additionally, unlike hysterical Time magazine writers, when it comes to indoor environmental comfort vs. productivity, I know what I’m talking about.

Numerous studies have shown a direct correlation between room comfort and productivity. It is simply a fact: people work better when they are more comfortable.

A 2004 study by the Rocky Mountain Institute, “Greening the Building and the Bottom Line,” found worker productivity increased as much as 13-percent and absenteeism decreased up to 25-percent when room temperature and humidity were at optimal levels.

Further, it was found that a mere one-percent increase in worker productivity produced enough added financial gains to cover the building’s annual energy bill. The bottom line is this: When you try to save pennies by turning up the thermostat, you are certain to lose dollars in lost productivity.

I agree with Klein on a couple things. Some public buildings, especially retail stores and restaurants, are often ridiculously over-cooled, and our heating and cooling systems need to be more energy efficient. I’m happy to report my industry is in the vanguard of developing more efficient equipment and more sophisticated computerized controls, which can provide air conditioning to rooms only when and where needed.

Unlike Klein, I am not ashamed of my country’s prosperity. I am confident that good ol’ American ingenuity will allow us to reduce energy consumption and at the same time provide comfortable indoor environments. We don’t have to make ourselves miserable just because it feels like we’re saving the planet.