After my only real complaint from my recent vacation being a lack of air conditioning…and after the HVAC unit at home gone on the fritz, this article at the Wall Street Journal (subscriber link) caught my eye:
Late last month, the presidents of Japan’s three biggest banks gathered to make an important announcement: They were abandoning formal attire for the rest of the summer—and insisting that their 1,630 branches nationwide keep office temperatures at a steamy 82 degrees Fahrenheit in order to conserve energy. In a formal ceremony in Tokyo, young women in cotton kimonos splashed water from wooden buckets on the baking ground—a traditional way to cool it down without using extra power.[...]
In a country where people are known for doing things together, the campaign has produced a swift, universal change in behavior since it started with government offices two years ago. Everyone from the prime minister to office workers, who have traditionally stuck to suits and ties even at the height of summer, started taking off their ties. Last summer, department stores displayed fashionable shirts that supported the no-tie look. And this year, the campaign has hit just about everywhere, with corporate offices, restaurants and even grocery stores ratcheting up the temperature.[...]
Office workers, meanwhile, are coming up with creative ways to stay cool. Some take their laptops to company cafeterias, where it’s normally cooler, or schedule as many meetings as possible in small conference rooms with adjustable air conditioning. Others have electric fans on or under their desks. Some wave traditional hand-held fans. One new solution: Cooling pads applied to the forehead that contain heat-radiating gel—a product originally used to soothe feverish children. Sales of the pads, made by toiletries producer Lion Corp., rose 20% in July and August this year, the company says.
While it’s definitely promising to see a nation working together to reduce energy consumption, and I do have to question Americans’ love of interior refrigeration…82 degrees seems a bit much. The article points out that 82 is probably the limit of comfort for a naked skinny person, and that clothing and/or extra padding quickly reduces the tolerance for that temperature, but at least some folks are showing ingenuity for coping with the higher thermostat settings.
A few months ago, a story went around discussing how obesity was impacting national petrol consumption in the U.S. I can’t help but wonder if next spring or early next summer, we’re treated to stories about how obesity “causes” increased A/C usage.