to think that public buildings in this country DON'T need air conditioning

[kitnkaboodle]

This is a typical British wishy-washy summer. You go out in your summer clothes and just about feel OK until you get inside some shop, bank, etc, where the aircon is blasting out. Why?? It's unnecessary, unecological and uncomfortable. I can't think that it's sound retail practice either, because it just makes me want to scoot around and get out as soon as possible to the warmth outside.

Worst culprits round here - Lloyds Bank and the Co-op. Brrr!

it really doesn't get hot enough for people to start swooning like C19th characters from novels does it?

Personally I don't much like air con and think it's rarely necessary in UK.

I would rather be a bit warm than cold though.

Yabu. A lot of public buildings in the UK are poorly ventilated and get uncomfortably hot even in a crappy summer.

nowhere in the UK should need aircon, but we are plagued with legacy buildings and continual stupid designs from arty-farty architects with no brains at all. Look at the things that go up in London - no opening windows, but huge expanses of glass so massive power bills. Plenty of other stupid examples.

when I am president:

• any shop leaving the door propped open with either heating or aircon switched on will be instantly closed down for the day. Second offence; closed for good. It is generally the clothing shops anyway and we have too many of those.
• preferably heating/aircon should be OFF in shops with staff given appropriate clothing. Cold day and there are the staff in frilly blouses with the heating blasting. No - give them jumpers.
• no future building that needs aircon will be allowed off the drawing board. We aren't in one of the shitty desert parts of the world, we have a benign climate.
• all supermarkets to be forced to install plastic strips and doors in front of freezer/fridge cabinets. All freezers in shops to be chest style, not upright.

meantime; when you go into a shop, SHUT THE DOOR AFTER YOU. If the shop has the doors propped open, walk out and contact the owner to explain why you bought nothing.

there's a newly built big supermarket near me and all this can be done; it doesn't have aircon or heating but is placed to catch the sun, the cold cabinets all have doors although many people are too stupid to shut them and the staff are sensibly dressed for the season. Great to visit as you don't have to shed or add clothing, the place is always the right temperature for the weather.

Cheese

Firstly - what heat? I can understand it in office buildings where there are lots of computers whirring, etc, but on the floor of Next?? I work indoors too and I haven't noticed any heat this year bar a few days in July!

But, more importantly, I'm afraid that shops aren't run primarily for the wellbeing of their staff - they are there to tempt customers and they ain't tempting me if they are too cold to be in! Of course workers should be comfortable too - so someone needs to sort this out!

We had a prize winning building put up on our scientific campus. The architects were SO annoyed that we (well, whoever was speaking up for the people actually working in there), wanted to be able to open windows and that sadly we would need to install blinds at every single window of the glass structure so we could...you know....see our computers.

And then there was the barbed comments about us not using regulation chairs.

They should make the people who build buildings actually sit and work in them day after day, week after week.

In my experience, even when working in an office with computers, if it's warm you open a window and when it's cold you close them. Seems to work pretty well. Terribly old fashioned of me I suppose.

It can get very warm inside. I work in a hospital, I've never known it to be below 25 C. In summer it's rarely below 30 and it's not unheard off to be over 40 C. Obviously we can't have it cold because people are ill in bed but some sort of climate control system to avoid the extremes would be lovely to be honest.

Surely even shop floor work can get hot? They have to put stock out etc. It's not always light work? I've done it, it can get physical and hot in the summer months. And remember those horrible fabrics they use for some uniforms which just DO NOT allow the body temperature to regulate properly.

But I guess in Tesco they can just hang around the freezers all day to keep cool.

In our office opening the window achieves nothing, only the person sitting there gets any benefit. There are constant arguments over the air con and temperature, I have it dissed and wear short sleeves and a cardigan so I can layer up or down as needed.

Tbtc - thanks for that info.At the moment I am still able to trot up the artic zone aisles at a fairly brisk pace, so I rarely linger and just grab what I need, rather than browsing. I might spend more money if I wasn't frozen to the marrow in the middle of summer!

I had an uncomfortable stay on a gynae ward in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary one summer, with the sun beating in. The building was designed for air con, but they couldn't afford it. I already had a high temp, so was given a fan. And I HATE having a fan blow on me!

If we assume, as a very rough estimation, that a human emits about 100W of power (that is 100 joules/second) then any space - un or poorly ventilated - with hundreds of humans milling about all day is going to see an increase in temperature surprisingly quickly.

For a large indoor concert (O2 ?) that's 20,000x0.1 = 2000 KW ...

The things you mention aren't public buildings, they are owned or rented out by the companies you are talking about.

Public buildings would be things like libraries and hospitals, things using public money. I think. I'm a bit confused.

Are you saying you think it should be against the law or something fit private

Pressed go too soon!

To spend their money on air con?

A lot of places would be a nightmare to work in, and people have to be there 7+ hours a day. Personally I like it when I'm in a temperature controlled environment. I agree though that when designing new buildings attention should be given to achieving this with minimal power usage.

... yeah, you're right. I don't mean public buildings, really. I don't think they can afford it usually, can they?

I mean, for the sake for clarity!: shops, banks, post offices, cafes

Places we all have to go to in the summer and places where I would spend a darn sight more money if the temperature was more ambient

Tesco's chiller aisles are bloody freezing. My old mum won't go down them any more

It's the change of temperature that's dangerous for some. I struggle in winter when going from cold to hot and my friend is the opposite (anaphylactic to cold)
If a shop is too hot I have to leave otherwise I end up covered in hives and my throat swelling

I've worked in buildings with out air con and it was pretty unpleasant. Fans blasting all over the place, papers flying everywhere, noisy temporary air con units drafted in.

This summer has not been hot, but in 2013 and 14 it was sweltering for weeks.

Plenty of shops and offices don't have windows. In offices the rooms with windows are often cubicled off.

Dh puts the air con on in his work van in summer.

They have put air con on some tube lines now which is lovely, it used to be unbearable.

My office has air con (and heating in winter) it's a big glass building. It packed in for a couple days last summer and it was stifling!

I think there is a place for it, but working to keep it as unnecessary / environmentally sound as possible is good.

I do get annoyed at shops in winter with doors open and the heating blasting out. Just shut the door fgs.

I worked in a shop that couldn't have air con because of the building it was in. During the summer our stock room was regularly in the high 40s and we got complaints about the heat on the shop floor all year round, i would have given my right arm for air con!

Shops keep the door open because if it's closed people don't come in

The building I work in would be illegally hot without aircon. All huge glass windows which don't open.

I rarely have the opportunity to go on proper trains, I'd like that!

I get a commuter train which also goes underground and a tube with no air con and it can get pretty unbearable. I've probably seen about 6 people keel over, over the years!