I still think though that people are severly underestimating the effectiveness of relative simple, low-tech options like awnings though.
My partner was downright insulted when I suggested getting some blackout curtains to reflect sunlight back outside when the sun is hitting our living room. I eventually won that battle after the first summer.
I mean, I'm currently in France, with 30°C (86°F) in my bedroom, do you really think that our shutters are opened ? At some point, sunlight is not even the issue. For the night to come, like the previous night, predictions are that we will have 35°C (95F) at midnight. I'm not even sure it was this hot when I was at Las Vegas eleven years ago. Las Vegas which is in the middle a of desert.
We are way past the awnings and we already have shutters and both of them are useless when the air itself is like a air dryer.
That said, yes, if possible, you should be installing an AC unit as well (and the awning will help make the AC unit more efficient.
In France, shutters aren't like most American ones, here we mostly use either plain wood with no gap for light (old houses) or for most of the recent houses, we use rolling shutters that let 0% of light (and therefore, 0% of radiative energy from the sun) get to the window and will make the room entirely black. Also, most modern rolling shutters are white by default so they are pretty reflective.
In the current situation, it's the air temperature that fuck us by not getting down at night and so our (concrete) buildings accumulate the heat even at night.
China is at least adding more solar per year than America has in total.
> Yanks holidaying in Europe expect cool comfort, and grow surly on finding that many old-world buildings require them to sweat and bear it.
And there's of course the ever present AI driver because where would we be if we don't get our priorities straight:
> It must ... expand its data centres, dwarfed by America’s, lest the artificial-intelligence revolution render it a vassal.
The rest of the article meanders through historical considerations, family wealth, home sizes, geopolitical issues, traditions, etc. None of which explain or justify the premise of the title, some even contradict it. Expanding AI DC goes head to head with "wasting" energy on cooling houses more. It's comfortable to lower the temp a bit in summer but all the arguments in the article are that the energy would be better used elsewhere. Industry, AI, etc.
The bottom like will always be that for any given production/storage capacity everything is a 0 sum game. I can use it to cool houses, or store it/use it for something more productive. The article does a bad job explaining why "cool the house" would trump other considerations when they compete for the same energy.
The only regret I have is that this house only has mechanical ventilation (blowing waste air out and sucking in air through vents above the windows) instead of balanced air. That would have made it possible to have an even climate through the house. As it is, only the three rooms with a unit in it are fresh. We fill two large buckets with the water from the airconditioning and use it to water the plants in the evening.
For urban heat zones, AC seems to be criticized in isolation. There's never a mention of a lack of tree canopy in vast parts of the city, or that reflective pavements and green roofs are nonexistent.
I think a real barrier is that we're not allowed to install compressors on building facades. I don't disagree with this; it just means that most folks living here are stuck buying portable AC units, which are inefficient unless you do some considerable DIY to make them dual-hose.
They also love them on the mainland but nobody loves the hassle of getting one installed.
It's also insurance related. Houses are insured based on also their insulation. Try making a hole in that insulation for an a/c without 'gezeik' as we say.
When I lived there I had a portable mini split unit. I ran that baby constantly during heatwaves. Blew every single-hose portable AC unit away.
Ventilation during night is almost useless, there is no breeze these days the air is perfectly still. Open windows through the building and air doesn't change, just insects come.
Now typical proper 2-part ACs are forbidden here for residential buildings, and monolithic ones are not that effective. We bought a mix of this from midea last year - 2 parts, permanently connected by hose, and we put it out when needed and cover door to balcony. easily 25 max under roof at low rpms, so far so good (outside easily 35 in shade, >42C on balcony in afternoon/evening). Proper permanently installed 2 part AC would save some energy since we lose some cold via smaller gaps in door, but its frequent these well-meaning moves end up doing more damage than intended.
Imho ac is only really needed for sleeping.
