gulf coast green 2012 stan cox

Qatar 2022

1. Energy and Climate

“It is your human environment

that makes climate.”

— Mark Twain, Following the Equator,

1897

2

Chakravarty et al., PNAS 2009

Re

lati

ve

to

19

93

1993

Kilowatt-hours

consumed for

residential air-

conditioning,

U.S. 1993

2005

5

2005

1993

1950 2007

1100 ft2

2500 ft2

Average new house’s floorspace, U.S.

7

0

50

100

150

200

2005 2010 2015 2020

Year

En

erg

y c

on

su

mp

tio

n, b

illio

n k

Wh

'Base case'

'High efficiency case'

Fig. 3, p. 165 India 8

Phoenix, ~ 1300

Phoenix, 2012

Phoenix, 2012

2. Efficiency

Coal saved through efficiency “is only

saved from one use to be employed in

others, and the profits gained soon

lead to extended employment in

many new forms. The several

branches of industry are closely

interdependent, and progress of any

one leads to the progress of nearly

all.”

— William Stanley Jevons, 1865

“The chief source of problems

is solutions.”

—Eric Sevareid, 1970

Re

lati

ve

to

19

93

1993

Kilowatt-

hours

consumed for

residential

air-

conditioning,

U.S.

1993

2005

14

2005

1993

increased efficiency

increased consumption

“A policy of ‘frugality first’ induces

efficiency as a secondary

consequence;

‘efficiency first’ does not induce

frugality--it makes frugality [seem]

less necessary.”

— Herman Daly, 2003

Bil

iio

n k

Wh

1993

United States, electricity

renewable

production

Air- conditioning consumption*

16

* buildings only

Jeff Rubin, CIBC World Markets

Jeff Rubin, CIBC World Markets

3. Culture

“General Electric has proved a

more devastating invader than

General Sherman.”

— Raymond Arsenault, “The End of

the Long, Hot Summer : The Air

Conditioner and Southern Culture,”

1984

Markham, 1944

Temperature

Temperature

“Civilization”

23

1. The 1956 Interstate Highway Act and dominance

of the automobile

2. FHA mortgage financing and subdivision regulation

3. De-industrialization of central cities

4. Downtown redevelopment and public housing

5. The suburban tract house

6. Racial segregation and job discrimination

7. Enclosed shopping malls

8. Sun Belt–style sprawl

9. Air-conditioning

10. Urban unrest in the 1960s

Top ten influences on the American metropolis,

1950-2000

Society for American City and Regional Planning History, 2000

25

26

64

62

92

163

80

42

27 16

24 21

annual cooling days

72

60

56

50

58

27

12 16

11 19

hours per year in

traffic delays

29 11

4. Productivity

“Doesn’t the AC-free enviro-dream world

sound wonderful? Daily summertime

siestas, shorter business hours, even

some days completely off! … ”

-- Conn Carroll, Heritage Foundation, 2010

“ … but as with all enviro-leftist schemes,

the heavy costs of their low energy

utopian dream are being ignored. Slower

workdays mean less productivity. Shorter

hours and closed offices mean lost profits

for employers.”

-- Conn Carroll, Heritage Foundation, 2010

Factory employees

Temperature Alan Hedge, Cornell

(A footnote)

Productivity

Avg. hourly

wage

5. Comfort & Health

“A May 2003 survey by the

International Facilities Management

Association says that being too cold

was the number-one office

complaint ... followed by being too

hot.”

—New York Times, 2005

37

Thailand: office employees

percent comfortable

38

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

70 75 80 85 90 95

Outdoor temperature

Ind

oo

r te

mp

era

ture

Fig. 4, p. 235 de Dear and

Brager, 2001 39

Ind

oo

r te

mp

era

ture

45 11