Eco-friendly ways to battle the heat
- June 5, 2008 12:07 PM |
- By Your Voice
According to a recent long-range forecast from Environment Canada, the country is in for a hot, sweaty summer.
Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said Wednesday temperatures for June, July and August could be well above average for the season. Read the full story here.
While balmy weather is great for sun-seekers, a rise in the mercury also means increased demand for electricity.
What can you do to stay cool and remain energy conscious? How can you battle the heat in an eco-friendly way?
Sally Glover
Sally Glover is the founder and editor of
Living Green Toronto, a website dedicated to all things green — from city planning to culture, architecture, food, and housing.
On Monday, June 9 Sally took your questions on beating the heat while staying green.
Read her answers below.
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Comments (6)
I've heard that deciduous trees on the south side of your house can keep your house cool in the summer. How much of a difference can this make?
Also, are there ways to make your lawn more heat friendly, such as providing shade by trees?
Thanks
Sally Glover: Hi Greg,
Trees can provide relief from summer heat and reduce the amount of energy required to cool your home. According to some estimates, properly planted shade trees could save you 10 to 50 per cent in air-conditioning costs.
Deciduous trees are a good choice for summer shading because they lose their leaves in the fall to let in winter sunlight during the cold months and will also serve as energy-saving windbreaks. They can be planted after the last frost in the spring and are best situated to the southeast, southwest and west of your home to provide shade in the summer.
Look for species native to your region, which will be uniquely adapted to local conditions and will not require excess water or pesticides to survive (check out Evergreen's native plant database at www.evergreen.ca/nativeplants/search/for information on your area).
Many municipalities offer backyard tree planting programs to help homeowners plant native trees and shrubs at a subsidized cost. Contact your municipality or check out their website for more info.
Tree and plant shade will also help keep your lawn looking fresh during the heat of summer. Embrace native plants, which are good water savers and will thrive with less care. Consider installing a rain barrel to collect excess storm water from your home's eaves troughs. Rainwater is oxygenated and unchlorinated (chlorine is bad for soil bacteria), which makes it good for grass and plants and safer for the environment.
Leave grass clippings on your lawn after mowing to make great mulch.
what is a great alternative to air conditionaing and the warm winds which makes fans not as good .
thanks
Sally Glover: Hi Shane,
Residential air conditioning is a huge energy hog and can account for up to 50 per cent of your summer electricity bill, so finding other ways to cool your home and family will be easier on your wallet — and the planet.
Throw open doors and windows in the evening and close them in the morning to seal in the cool night air. Keep your shades drawn during the day to prevent the sun from cooking through your windows.
Use ENERGY STAR approved fans to keep air circulating — they use 90 per cent less electricity than air conditioners. The Aerodynamic Turbo-Aire High Velocity Fan (available at Home Depot) uses less electricity than a 100W light bulb and delivers 100 per cent more air than conventionally designed fans.
Install energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs around your home — regular incandescents give off more heat and add to your energy bill.
Plant trees and shrubs to shield your house from the sun — see my response to Greg above for more info.
The high humidity makes my children, and me, I admit, cranky, 'out of sorts', and feeling nauseous. What can we do, other than turning on the a/c, to help us feel better?
Sally Glover: Hi Anita,
As someone who lives through Toronto summers without air conditioning myself, I know how easily the heat and humidity can wreak havoc on your mood and general sense of well being.
On super hot days, try wetting your children's wrists and other pulse points with cold water or a piece of ice wrapped in a face cloth. Cooling the wrists can reduce the body's core temperature by as much as 1.5ºC.
Make sure your family drinks plenty of water — even when they're not thirsty — to replace fluids lost in perspiration and prevent dehydration.
Stock your freezer with icy treats such as sliced watermelon or homemade fruit-juice popsicles.
Check out my response to Shane's inquiry above about cooling your home without air conditioning.
If all else fails, go to the mall, movie theatre or some other air-conditioned public building to cool down for a few hours.
In my extensive travels to Asia I discovered the way Asians cool off before sleeping in non-air-conditioned rooms. After showering but not drying off, they lie wet on a towel allowing evaporation to cool them as they fall asleep.
Are you aware of any other such methods used in other parts of the world?
Sally Glover: Hi Allan,
There's no question that air conditioning has changed the way we live in terms of keeping cool and adapting to summer heat. Architecture and cultural practices help people in other parts of the world beat the heat without the resources we have in Western culture.
It's no coincidence that the regional cuisines of many of the world's warmest regions are as hot as the weather. While it may seem counterintuitive, spicy food can help cool the body by opening pores and encouraging perspiration, the body's natural cooling system.
Indigenous building types demonstrate various methods of keeping cool around the world. In Iran, desert buildings are constructed with lofty walls, highly elevated air traps, and water reservoirs with arched domes and ice stores.
In temperate climates, open walls and covered porches allow breezes and keep out direct sunlight.
New Zealand's Olympic team has come up with an unusual way to keep cool at this summer's Beijing Olympics: birthing pools. Athletes will fill pools designed for giving birth with ice to combat heat exhaustion and allow faster recovery periods.
what is the best way that we can keep the house cool and not using A.C. there is one person in the house that has sever asthma that is triggered by heat and humidity
Sally Glover: Hi Andrew,
Please see my responses to Shane and Anita regarding cooling your home and family without air conditioning. For asthma triggered by heat and humidity, it’s best to consult your doctor for specific medical recommendations.
What is your opinion on geothermal heat pumps as an alternative to air conditioning?
How much can rooftop gardens help keep a house or building cool?
Sally Glover: Hi Mary,
Installing a geothermal heat pump system can be a smart and earth-friendly way to save energy and money in heating and cooling your home.
For those that don’t know, geothermal systems (also called earth energy systems) are pumps that collect and transfer heat from the earth through a series of buried pipes running into a building, either concentrating the heat inside for warmth or operating in reverse to cool the building by transferring the heat outside.
A geothermal system can save up to 50 per cent on heating costs as compared with electric heating and up to 30 per cent on air-conditioning costs. Plus, they’re a clean form of energy and will help reduce your home’s greenhouse gas emissions. For more information, check out the Earth Energy Society of Canada’s website at www.earthenergy.ca.
A rooftop garden can also provide significant (and green!) benefits for cooling homes and buildings. According to Environment Canada, a typical one-storey building with 10 centimetres of grass growing on its roof reduces its own cooling needs by 25 per cent.
Green roofs also benefit the environment by converting carbon dioxide emissions into fresh oxygen and can play a role in reducing the urban heat island effect in cities through the daily dew and evaporation cycle, minimizing the distribution of particulate matter and the production of smog.
The Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (www.greenroofs.org) website provides extensive information and resources about the economic, social and environmental benefits of green roofs in North America.