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I must ask: do you now have a/c in your home and/or workplace?
Yes at home, but in 1965 -- still living with moms and pops -- my parents had only a window unit in the "club basement" where we spent 95% of waking hours. Bedtime relied on a Hunter window fan which did a good job, even in humid Baltimore.
At the career workplace, central A/C all 30 years. At the large retail food store where I worked part-time during college years, no A/C.
No A/C in army barracks. I guess now you're gonna tell me that the army barracks today there's A/C, even during basic training.
Often it is less about student or teacher comfort than it is about keeping computer equipment cool!
Once you are installing forced hot air, you might as well go for the AC as well.
LoL, I can't think of a school I've attended or worked in or ANY large building I've ever spent considerable time it that didn't have constant HVAC issues of one kind or another.
I hear what you're saying, but it's really funny to me that the equipment drives the decision, not the comfort of the students/teachers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TabulaRasa
Laura Ingalls was from a part of the country where it's STILL not essential to have air conditioning in all but the hottest months of the year (when school is not typically in session) - and, really, while it's convenient to have the option then, it's still not truly necessary...just doesn't get that hot. I went to college there (fairly recently, NOT years and years ago), and none of the residence halls were air conditioned or needed to be.
Shockingly, there ARE parts of the country where air conditioning is not a real necessity.
Where is this? Most places (homes) in Minneapolis have some sort of A/C. My son-in-law works at home, and keeps it running all the time. School, even in MN, is not a 9 months and out situation any more. Many schools have summer sessions.
My daughter wen to college in MN; the students were told to bring a fan for use in September when it was still hot, because the dorms were not air-conditioned. Coming from Colorado, she found the heat/humidity very uncomfortable. When I went to college, many years ago, in Pittsburgh, not a particularly hot city but very humid, the only dorms open in the summer were the newer ones that were air-conditioned.
Schools built before AC were built to have a draft. The design of the building had attributes built in to help keep the building cooler inside than outside in hot weather. Building built with AC are built heavily insulated and with very limited draft, if any at all. Some of these buildings don't have Windows that open. Without AC, the bodies of students and teachers will increase the temperature inside to well over 100 degrees and with high humidity levels from sweat and breath. Even if Windows could be opened, it's not designed to let out heat while drawing in cooler air. I went to a school built before AC and one built with AC. When power went out, the one built with AC got hot fast. By the time we could leave to go home, going outside in 95 degree heat felt like a cool breeze. At the old school, no matter how hot it was in the school, it was far hotter outside.
You also have to remember that local and state building codes may require a new or newly renovated public building must have AC included at the time it's built or renovated. In some cases the requirement even includes specific details like rate of air exchange and MERV filter rating depending on building purpose.
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