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An Uncomfortable Truth: Air-Conditioning and Sustainability in Asia

Author

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  • Tim Winter

    (Institute for Culture and Society, University of Western Sydney, Building EM, Parramatta, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia)

Abstract

Over the coming two decades Asia will be the main driver of a 40% increase in global energy consumption. Ambitions for a more sustainable future in the region are severely compromised by the widespread and rapid take-up of energy-intensive methods for cooling the built environment. For the majority of Asia's countries buildings account for more than 50% of all national greenhouse gas emissions. With around half that energy consumption typically associated with cooling or heating interior spaces, national carbon footprints have increased dramatically in recent decades through the introduction of electronic air-conditioning. This paper argues such trends are unsustainable and low-carbon alternatives for environmental comfort are required urgently. It traces shifts in how air has been ‘materially imagined’ over the last century or so in Asia and how this bears upon the future of sustainable urbanism. Air-conditioning is seen as pivotal to transformations in urban design and living, such that two phases of modernity are identified: preconditioned and conditioned. By foregrounding the need for low-carbon alternatives, the paper advocates for an alternative, low-carbon regime of thermal governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Tim Winter, 2013. "An Uncomfortable Truth: Air-Conditioning and Sustainability in Asia," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(3), pages 517-531, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:3:p:517-531
    DOI: 10.1068/a45128
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ford, Brian & Patel, Nimish & Zaveri, Parul & Hewitt, Mark, 1998. "Cooling without air conditioning," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 177-182.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yolande Strengers & Cecily Maller, 2017. "Adapting to ‘extreme’ weather: mobile practice memories of keeping warm and cool as a climate change adaptation strategy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(6), pages 1432-1450, June.
    2. Tim Winter, 2016. "Urban sustainability in the Arabian Gulf: Air conditioning and its alternatives," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(15), pages 3264-3278, November.

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