OBSERVATION: Hong Kong arguably might have some of the coldest indoor temperatures of any major world city.
SOLUTION: Provide new indoor temperature range requirements for all indoor public spaces to increase thermal comfort and decrease energy consumption.
QUESTION: Which major sub-tropical world city has blistering summer temperatures and a population clad in Arctic survival gear?
ANSWER: You guessed it.
Visitors to Hong Kong often remark about near-freezing temperatures within the city’s shopping malls, MTR, restaurants, and other public spaces. To cope with these extreme temperature swings, Hong Kong residents and visitors are forced to clad themselves with Arctic survival gear to venture out into public or dine in restaurants. How many times have you worn a ski hat and warmed your hands around a cup of soup while a stream of refrigerated air is blown down upon your table as ice crystals form on your cutlery? As nonsensical as this is, this is the reality of the situation — and it has been accepted as the status quo!
The effect of these wild temperature swings on a stressed-out population — many of whom already have compromised immune systems from the city’s pollutants — only adds to more visits to the doctor and pushes the health care system to a breaking point.
Air conditioning systems extract heat from indoor areas and expel it outside of the building envelope to the outdoors, further warming the ambient air surrounding large buildings — often resulting in a vicious cycle and contributing to the urban heat island effect. While the indoor units of many wall and ceiling-mounted air conditioners have built-in sensors and allow for the creation of set points, these sensors are not actually located where temperatures for human comfort should be measured.
How could people warm up to change?
- Could the Government enact legislation and penalties by codifying indoor temperature ranges from a public health standpoint, instead of just issuing guidelines which are simply ignored?
- What would happen if all public buildings were required to be equipped with an Energy Management System that would automatically regulate indoor temperatures and save millions of dollars in energy?
- Could subsidies be provided for a more basic and affordable control management system for the city’s ice-cold restaurants, which link the control systems of independent air conditioning units with wireless temperature sensors at strategic locations within the outlet?
- Could air conditioning manufacturers dream up new wireless remotes that could be used with existing systems comprised of independent units, which could then interface with wireless temperature sensors and automatically control multiple units simultaneously?
- Could air curtains be provided at many open exterior portals to minimize vast volumes of chilled air being spewed out onto adjacent sidewalks and roadway and chilling passing drivers? Similarly, could more buildings be designed with entry vestibules?
- Would the ambient outdoor temperature in Hong Kong’s urban areas experience a significant reduction as a result?
- Could public health issues be improved in the process?
- Could Hong Kong residents save a fortune on winter apparel and accessories?
How would the lives of people visiting and living in Hong Kong be improved with a thaw out from the endless big chill?