Costa Samaras: Air conditioning is an equity intervention for climate resilience, full stop. Every school should be safe, have healthy air & solar on the roof, & have air conditioning. In the next inflation reduction act, we need large investments in clean & green schools. Btw- they’re in every political district

Air conditioning is an equity intervention for climate resilience, full stop. Every school should be safe, have healthy air & solar on the roof, & have air conditioning. In the next inflation reduction act, we need large investments in clean & green schools. Btw- they’re in every political district

No snark, but a gift link so everybody can see the whole thing wapo.st/3wDuG3H

Schools that never needed AC are now overheating. Fixes will cost billions.wapo.st As heat waves creep north, they are baking schools that previously did not need air conditioning. Fixing the problem will be neither cheap, nor easy.

My colleague Prof. @destenie.bsky.social has done groundbreaking work on the energy equity gap. Here’s a video explaining this issue: youtu.be/zdl_VeYAM9w?...

Dr. Destenie Nock: Air Conditioning and Summertime Energy Povertyyoutu.be Lack of air conditioners can put households at risk of heat stroke or heat illness in the summertime. CEE/EPP’s Dr. Destenie Nock and team have developed methods for finding at risk households using large scale data analytics and algorithms. This work was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Further reading: Kwon, M., Cong, S., Nock, D., Huang, L., Qiu, Y. L., & Xing, B. (2023). Forgone summertime comfort as a function of avoided electricity use. Energy Policy, 183, 113813. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421523003981

Upgrade the proposed Green New Deals for Schools Act and roll it into the next Inflation Reduction Act www.congress.gov/bill/117th-c...

Andrew Jones is a CMU CEE PhD candidate co-advised by Prof. Nock & me. He led our paper on projecting how climate change affects energy equity & air conditioning use for low-income households. Tl;dr is climate exacerbates existing inequities. Need cooling equity www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Climate change impacts on future residential electricity consumption and energy burden: A case study in Phoenix, Arizonawww.sciencedirect.com Transitioning to an equitable electricity sector requires a deep understanding of a warming climate's impacts on vulnerable populations. A vital clima…

I was wondering about this issue when reading the WaPo article about rising heat in schools w/out AC. Doesn't schools closing whenever it gets too hot just shift the problem to families who can't turn on AC at home or have no one to watch the kids?

yeah, and also the kids lose school days that might not get made up

I’ve been relieved to see climate people talking positively about AC as a resilience tool recently — so many years of treating it like a bad guy for energy use, when people need to stay cool!

literally the difference between life and death for some folks. We need it!

And the more kids and teachers we constantly reinfect with COVID the more important it will become. POTS, a form of dysautonomia, is found in up to 80% of people with long covid. One of the symptoms is heat intolerance.

Yes!!

Yes!! I’ve written about this before and I need to do more writing on the topic. It’s an incredibly crucial issue. foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/16/c...

Climate Change Demands More Air Conditioningforeignpolicy.com An often-disparaged technology is a lifesaver, not a luxury.

Going on the record: Faine good

aw thanks

Doc here: completely agree! Concurrently need air purifiers for wildfire smoke (PM 2.5) & infectious disease (eg Covid: "Air, it's the new poop") protection. Even before next IRA, DIY Corsi-Rosenthal boxes provide cheap ($65) & effective air purification *and* help students/teachers stay healthy.

Science in Action: How to Build a Corsi-Rosenthal Boxengineering.ucdavis.edu Learn how to build a Corsi-Rosenthal box. The device was created to provide significant reduction in the amount of virus-laden, aerosol particles that are in the air. Follow along as Dean Richard L. C...

Absolutely. From my old boss: www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-up...

Let's Clear The Air On COVID | OSTP | The White Housewww.whitehouse.gov By Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Deputy Assistant to the President The most common way COVID-19 is transmitted from one person to another is t...

As a public school teacher in New England, I can tell you that even here we'll have a few days each year that are so hot it just wipes the kids out. Every teacher agrees that it's almost pointless to try to get them to concentrate it's so uncomfortable. I cannot imagine what it's like down south.

I can't wait to hear from the Greens who insist that air conditioning is the worst possible thing on the planet and opening windows is all you ever need. /s

“It’s miserable,” she said, “students throwing up, not being able to keep their heads up, just horrible conditions.”

Also expand the existing school IAQ program from the IRA

Yup- people are singling out TX and FL, but I’d bet their schools already have AC in most locations. I’m in NC, the vast majority of schools have had AC my whole 45yo life.. if AC is out they send kids home.

My school district has refused to fund this for years. Only 20% of the district schools have adequate air conditioning. Rest assured Central Office, where all the district admin work, has had their old building equipped with A/C. www.cbs58.com/news/mps-def...

MPS defends decision to not expand air conditioning with COVID aid moneywww.cbs58.com The district got more than $730 million in the two most recent rounds of federal pandemic aid. $2 million of that is going toward HVAC projects.

infuriating

Sadly, this @washingtonpost.com piece focuses solely on temperature while ignoring C02 levels in classrooms, which are more widespread barriers to learning. It would be tragic if the next IRA continues funding heat pumps without also funding balanced energy recovery ventilation.

friendly amendment: current IRA has ventilation money for schools, just need more, and need to be sure they use it. Also flagging the typo, CO2. www.epa.gov/newsreleases...

Biden-Harris administration announces availability of $32M in grant funding to tackle air pollution at schools and deliver cleaner air for America’s children | US EPAwww.epa.gov EPA News Release: Biden-Harris administration announces availability of $32M in grant funding to tackle air pollution at schools and deliver cleaner air for America’s children

Thanks. I was unaware. Two notes: 1. Retrofit school ventilation & heat pumps & windows & light insulation as a total package. This will help kick start retrofit industry. (Schools are technically easier than other bldg types) 2. Move next to multifamily buildings, including both rental & strata.

This seems like one where one or two states can trailblaze using a combo of IRA incentives and bonds, winning themselves bragging rights and showing others how it can be done.

Would you work in an office without air conditioning? Then kids shouldn't have to either.

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