Record-breaking heat waves are challenging the Europe’s longstanding resistance to cooling technology, spawning new political battles

See Europe Is Hot as Hell. Why Doesn’t It Want Air Conditioning? by Matthew Dalton of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"European infrastructure was designed for a climate that was much cooler than today. Temperatures in the northern half of the continent rarely rose above 90 degrees Fahrenheit and temperatures over 100 were almost unheard of. 

Rail lines and electrical grids weren’t built to withstand extreme heat. Many of the continent’s buildings lack design features that would keep them cooler in the summer, such as shutters to block out the sun.

Most of the continent’s homes and institutions lack air conditioning. In Italy, around 56% of homes are equipped with the technology, a figure that falls to 25% in France and 5% in the U.K. Europe’s summer heat waves often claim tens of thousands of lives, far more than in the U.S., a difference that scientists say is partly due to the lack of air conditioning."

"Europe is the fastest warming continent, with temperatures that are already around 2.5 degrees Celsius warmer than in the preindustrial era, compared with around 1.4 degrees for the earth as a whole.

Last week, Paris topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday and Thursday. That has only happened on three other days since official records began in the 19th century: in 1947, 2019 and 2022."

"Authorities across Europe have tried to avoid air conditioning on a large scale. The side effects from a big increase in air conditioning are considered to be large: The devices are costly; they are energy hungry; and they eject hot air into the street, warming cities even more. Moreover, they are a nuisance in dense urban neighborhoods, afflicting residents with the omnipresent hum of compressors."

In London, city regulations require developers to adopt cooler design measures—natural ventilation, shutters on windows and better insulation—before installing air conditioning in new buildings. Paris and Berlin have plans to incorporate more plants into the city landscape, reducing the heat-magnifying effect of stone during a heat wave. Paris opened the Canal Saint-Martin for swimming during the latest heat wave.

The problem is such measures are considerably less effective than air conditioning at reducing the threat of extreme heat, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the U.N.’s official climate science body. In its latest report on adaptation in Europe, the IPCC rates air conditioning as a highly-effective response to heat waves, while mechanical ventilation was rated medium-effectiveness and urban greenery was given a low rating.

Measures such as mechanical ventilation or shading don’t work when the heat is relentless, experts say. During the latest heat wave, 85-degree Fahrenheit temperatures at night didn’t allow buildings to cool down before the sun rose to bake them again.

Radhika Khosla, a climate scientist at Oxford University, said countries should mix better building design with air conditioning to limit the devices’ energy consumption. “You want to use it for what it’s really needed as opposed to making it your go-to solution,” she said."

"In some European cities, installation of an air conditioner in an apartment requires approval from the entire building. Local officials also get a say, to make sure the system respects architectural norms, noise laws and the city’s energy goals. 

In Geneva, the installation of an air conditioner is subject to strict energy-usage rules. London officials have forced homeowners to remove air conditioning because they haven’t resorted to other cooling methods, such as ceiling fans."

"First, residents [in Paris] must gain approval from the neighbors. Then, if the system is visible from the street, local officials can refuse if it mars the iconic, limestone facades of the city’s Haussmannian buildings."

"Under French law, a building association can block the installation of a system if it produces more than five decibels during the day or three at night, roughly the noise of a light breeze."