Open a Window

If there is anything that people in the United States love to do, that is criticize everyone in the world for not living as we do. Houses are embellished with the most state-of-the-art equipment that we demand to have, while being full of things we barely use. We often have no interest in preserving the environment if it involves changing our lifestyles while we vapidly bleat that, “This is just the way things are.” However, the laws of physics do not care that we want to be able to drive big cars to pick up retail products produced by the working poor. One thing we could learn to do that might reduce energy without needing so much of a cultural shift? Learn to open a window.

Sarcastic people will roll down the window of their Ford F-150, but in truth, relying on air-conditioning and heating means that households are relying on fossil fuels. In “developing” countries–as well as traditionally cold countries, including Europe–HVAC is less of a requirement and more of a luxury. Therefore, in places where the weather is consistently warm, there are amazing windows that open in multiple places so that airflow can be adjusted and people inside can remain comfortable. The current problem is that people in traditionally cold places have not been able to adapt to warmer winters and longer summers, meaning that their architecture has large windows for allowing daylight, but little airflow.

As time progresses, people will not be able to argue that HVAC can be adjusted for climate change. First and foremost, “alternative fuels” are not an option because they do not support energy hyperconsumption, and are always supplemented by fossil fuels. This means that the only answer is to use less. End of discussion. 24/7 businesses and non-stop entertainment have nothing to do with preparing for a future where less will be available. This means commercial properties full of air conditioning and heating cannot be made “sustainable” with solar energy or wind energy. Instead, we will need to learn to use the surrounding terrain to our advantage.

Moreover, consistently cutting down trees is reducing the opportunity for cooler air near residential locations. Yes, trees clean the air, but they also drastically reduce the temperature in an era of increasing heat. Living in a suburb or a high rise does nothing to reduce the temperature, and neither of those arrangements count as authentic density. The ridiculous argument that people need to continue building to house people when deforestation raises temperatures means that municipal governments are hoping that unhoused encampments will be baked to death. Private equity is also buying houses, thereby inflating demand, meaning that despite constant building and deforestation, the price of housing fails to decrease. Finally, healthy ecosystems maintain healthy temperatures, and constant development destroys healthy ecosystems.

Being able to open windows and reduce the temperatures in a dwelling is one cultural shift that many people can afford. Harassing people for personal diets is stupid because income and time choose diets–maybe if sanctimonious vegan millionaires paid their staff more, fewer people would be eating processed meats and cheeses. If the United States does not change its hyperconsumption and more countries imitate our behavior, it is sentencing everyone to death. While everyone knows that rich people would rather murder everyone on the planet than change their behavior, one thing that people in “developed” countries can learn to do is stop blowing up HVAC, and open a window.