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Air conditioning
Air Conditioner Alley
Written by Karen Kingston Thursday, 05 November 2009 00:58
In case you haven't guessed from my last two postings, I'm in Singapore for a few days.
Singapore has the same tropical climate as Bali but when packing to come here I always bring warm clothes. Unlike Bali, where the majority of people still spend a great deal of time outdoors and hardly any Balinese like to use air-conditioning at night when they sleep, Singapore has evolved into a culture where many people spend the majority of their time indoors and air-conditioning is perceived as highly desirable 24 hours a day. It's the same in many other modern cities located in hot, humid climates.
I therefore always bring warm clothing with me - not to wear outside but to put on when I'm inside, especially in taxis and restaurants, where the temperature is invariably set to incredibly cold.
The photo here shows an amazing array of air conditioning units lining a tiny back street I have nameed Air Conditioner Alley, located between two rows of classy restaurants in the heart of Singapore. The buildings all look glossy and beautiful at the front but it's a very different story when you take a peek behind.
In colonial times, buildings in Singapore were designed with efficient natural airflows, and you can still visit places like this here today where simply opening the windows is enough to keep the rooms cooled to a very tolerable level. But now they build buildings with so little ventilation that they can only be cooled by air-conditioning. And many buildings don't even have windows you can open if you want to! How did depending on air-conditioning like this ever get to be a way of life?
Apart from the huge ecological cost to the planet of using excessive air-conditioning, many studies have shown that people who live and work in permanently air-conditioned spaces develop compromised immune systems. Their bodies become so used to living within a narrow band of temperature fluctuations that their immune systems lose their resilience so they are generally the first people to succumb when there is a bout of cold or flu going round. It's similar to the autoimmune problems that are now known to arise with children who are brought up in environments that are too hygienic and sterile. Scientists now know what our grandparents always knew - that it's healthy to be exposed to some dirt and germs in our formative years in order to build up resistance.
Recommended reading: 11 Ways to Green Your Air Conditioning
Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009
Living without air conditioning
Written by Karen Kingston Friday, 18 January 2008 20:43
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| Modern carved air vents |
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| Traditional Balinese air vents |
Continuing the topic of air conditioning that I began in Nov 2007, Amy from Florida wrote to me to ask, "What do you suggest for those of us who live in hot and humid climates where an air conditioner becomes a necessity much of the year?"
I gave this a lot of thought when building my home, hotel and conference centre in Bali, where humidity ranges between 65 - 85% and can get as high as 95% at some times of the year, which is comparable with Florida's climate. What I did was to design permenantly open vents over all the doors and windows, so that there is always some circulation of fresh air even when the air-conditioning is being used. There is a layer of wire mesh between the inner and outer sides of the vents to stop bugs getting in, and the whole design works wonderfully well.
The ornate carved version in the first photo is an adaptation of the traditional Balinese open ventilation system using plain wooden uprights (shown in the second photo), which allows mozzies and other tropical bugs to come and go as they please.
As well as the problems I mentioned in my previous blog, another thing to understand is the weakening effect on a person's immune system if they habitually use heating and cooling systems to keep their environment within a narrow band of temperature. Depending on the climate, some heating or cooling is fine during cold or hot seasons, but the immune system loses robustness if climate control is used excessively or is too controlled.
There are many hot, humid countries in the world where peoples live very comfortaby without air conditioning. The trick is to incorporate air-flows into the design at the architectural stage, such as in the lovely old colonnial buildings in Singapore.
Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2008Read 3 Comments... >>
Hotels with windows that open
Written by Karen Kingston Sunday, 04 November 2007 17:48
I've been travelling for the last few months and right now I'm in the USA, where the biggest challenge is finding hotels to stay in that have windows that open. How I wish that someone would create a website listing these increasingly elusive places!
I've heard that the main reason hotels seal their windows these days are because they qualify for lower insurance premiums if they do - something along the lines of suicidal jumpers not being able to do their thing, and sealed windows making it easier to control outbreaks of fire.
The problem with sealed windows is the lack of circulation of air, the toxifying effects of the chemicals used in air-conditioning units (refrigerants, anti-bacterial and anti-mould agents, etc), and the toxic chemicals used in cleaning products which build up in the space. There is also the constant drone of the machinery, which deeply affects a person's quality of sleep because it keeps you 'wired' all night long. The higher the pitch of the sound of the fan, the worse the effect.
And of course meditating in a room with no fresh air is almost a complete waste of time. A good circulation of chi is an absolute 'must' for both high states of sleep and high states of meditation.
One way I've found to search out hotels with windows that open is to enter city name + hotel + balcony into a search engine. These rooms cost more but it's a sure bet that wherever there is a balcony, there will be a door that can be opened to let in fresh air. Feel free to post here if you know of good hotels anywhere in the world that have windows that open. I'll be happy to post a list of them on a page on my website.
Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2007Read 9 Comments... >>
