5 ms·

That's because your house is designed with active cooling as a presumption. If your house was designed to utilize passive cooling effects (thermal mass, green r

That's because your house is designed with active cooling as a presumption. If your house was designed to utilize passive cooling effects (thermal mass, green roof, evaporative cooling, overhangs, shades, airflow compression, etc) your bedroom wouldn't get that hot.

jonknee 9y ago
The greenest building you can imagine would still be uncomfortably hot in Tampa during the Summer without A/C. It's a hot and humid place.
lfam 9y ago
Early Florida homes (19th and early 20th century) were built by people who understood passive cooling techniques. But, the invention of AC and the development of super-strong residential building codes in response to destructive hurricanes has steered the last ~70 years of home construction towards sealed concrete boxes with air conditioning infrastructure built in. Many of the classic passive cooling techniques of the old Florida homes are not even legal now. The benefit is your house doesn't collapse in a hurricane.
- DrScump 9y ago
  the development of super-strong residential building codes in response to destructive hurricanes plus the fact that all construction is much better insulated than the pre-war installed base.
  - lfam 9y ago
    True. It's the same thing in some cases. For example, you can no longer leave openings between the walls and roof, which used to let hot air out the top of your house. Talk about poorly insulated!
zabuni 9y ago
evaporative cooling? thermal mass? Did you not read the parent? How is a thermal mass going to help a place that has a low temperature of 90? And how will evaporative cooling work in a place with 80% humidity?
- erikpukinskis 9y ago
  Ground temp is lower than 90 so thermal mass can still help. You just need to design for proper insulation, exposure, shades, etc. Evap at 80% humidity is about half the rate at 50%. Still functional.
toomuchtodo 9y ago
> That's because your house is designed with active cooling as a presumption. No, it isn't. I have an enormous oak tree that overhangs the southern roof. My windows have a very low level of solar radiation they allow through. The ambient air temp at night is almost 80F. The house is built of concrete block, and stores heat during the day, releasing it at night. We're routinely at 60-80% humidity. Just waiting for some solar shingles to be available (hurry up Elon!). Don't much care how long I run the AC every day as long as I net out 0 with solar generation.
- astrodust 9y ago
  As good as those features might be, you're still dependent on active cooling to make it liveable. There are other measures that have been used for millenia in desert and jungle environments where the house itself encourages particular paths of air flow that bring in cooler, fresh air and vent hot, stale air. We've got the technology now to evolve this even further by doing computer simulations to come up with better designs, and by techniques like 3D house printing with concrete to make intricate ventilation systems that can circulate air through the floors and up through walls with zero energy cost.
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    At high humidity, you're still going to be hot and drenched in sweat. The only solution is energy efficient thermal transfer (AC, heat pump, etc) and dehumidification.
    - astrodust 9y ago
      There are ways of doing this that don't involve expending energy, but it requires re-thinking the very concept of the modern house. A thousand years ago you had to build things this way, you had no alternative, but now it's taken for granted that air-conditioning will solve all problems.
      - toomuchtodo 9y ago

jonknee 9y ago

The greenest building you can imagine would still be uncomfortably hot in Tampa during the Summer without A/C. It's a hot and humid place.

lfam 9y ago

Early Florida homes (19th and early 20th century) were built by people who understood passive cooling techniques. But, the invention of AC and the development of super-strong residential building codes in response to destructive hurricanes has steered the last ~70 years of home construction towards sealed concrete boxes with air conditioning infrastructure built in. Many of the classic passive cooling techniques of the old Florida homes are not even legal now. The benefit is your house doesn't collapse in a hurricane.

DrScump 9y ago
the development of super-strong residential building codes in response to destructive hurricanes plus the fact that all construction is much better insulated than the pre-war installed base.
- lfam 9y ago
  True. It's the same thing in some cases. For example, you can no longer leave openings between the walls and roof, which used to let hot air out the top of your house. Talk about poorly insulated!

zabuni 9y ago

evaporative cooling? thermal mass? Did you not read the parent? How is a thermal mass going to help a place that has a low temperature of 90? And how will evaporative cooling work in a place with 80% humidity?

erikpukinskis 9y ago
Ground temp is lower than 90 so thermal mass can still help. You just need to design for proper insulation, exposure, shades, etc. Evap at 80% humidity is about half the rate at 50%. Still functional.

toomuchtodo 9y ago

> That's because your house is designed with active cooling as a presumption. No, it isn't. I have an enormous oak tree that overhangs the southern roof. My windows have a very low level of solar radiation they allow through. The ambient air temp at night is almost 80F. The house is built of concrete block, and stores heat during the day, releasing it at night. We're routinely at 60-80% humidity. Just waiting for some solar shingles to be available (hurry up Elon!). Don't much care how long I run the AC every day as long as I net out 0 with solar generation.

astrodust 9y ago
As good as those features might be, you're still dependent on active cooling to make it liveable. There are other measures that have been used for millenia in desert and jungle environments where the house itself encourages particular paths of air flow that bring in cooler, fresh air and vent hot, stale air. We've got the technology now to evolve this even further by doing computer simulations to come up with better designs, and by techniques like 3D house printing with concrete to make intricate ventilation systems that can circulate air through the floors and up through walls with zero energy cost.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  At high humidity, you're still going to be hot and drenched in sweat. The only solution is energy efficient thermal transfer (AC, heat pump, etc) and dehumidification.
  - astrodust 9y ago
    There are ways of doing this that don't involve expending energy, but it requires re-thinking the very concept of the modern house. A thousand years ago you had to build things this way, you had no alternative, but now it's taken for granted that air-conditioning will solve all problems.
    - toomuchtodo 9y ago