Comment: Germany is harming itself with its hostility to air conditioning

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Many technologies have clear roles in the respective social groups. A wind turbine, for example, is clearly viewed negatively by this group, while it is seen as fundamentally positive by that group. This applies to many technologies that only marginally affect public life: Automobiles, photovoltaic cells, pressurized water reactors, combined cycle power plants and so on. The air conditioning compressor, however, has a very strange special role here.

Air conditioning: bad

Americans often wonder why there is so little air conditioning in buildings in Germany when it is hot. They make funny or funny-meaning videos of the American guest melting in the sweat of his brow and asking why there is no air conditioning. The German counterpart of the piece then stands around heat-practiced and says: "You don't need that and besides, air conditioning is harmful to the environment." Well observed: This kind of opinion can be found in large parts of Germany, and as soon as the topic is broached on public radio, the editor immediately jumps in with "but it's harmful!" every time air conditioning is mentioned.

Ein Kommentar von Clemens Gleich

Clemens Gleich saß vor langer Zeit als c't-Redakteur in einem Büro des Heise-Verlags, bevor ihn einschneidende Erlebnisse dazu brachten, fürderhin in den Sätteln von Motorrädern sein Geld zu verdienen. Doch einmal Nerd, immer Nerd: Als freier Autor schreibt er immer noch über Computerthemen. Und das ganze Drumherum an gesellschaftlichen und politischen Auswirkungen.

Heat pump: good

The same people then say about much larger air conditioning compressors with gigantically more operating hours (the heat pump): "That's great, it's the future of building technology in new and existing buildings." So it can't be about the technology, because it's the same in both applications, including all the advantages, including all the fundamental points of criticism. Nor can it be about the resources because air conditioning systems in our latitudes require much less raw materials and electricity than heat pumps, and with a much lower CO2 intensity. This is because air conditioning systems run when we are drowning in solar power.

It can't even be about the benefits, because heating water in summer using a heat pump is purely a comfort function, as every mountain hut guest knows. In contrast, air conditioning can help prevent dangerous health problems in hospitals, for example. It is therefore a case of a flawed dichotomous division of a technology based on perceived moral truth.

Heat protection without cooling technology

In the wake of our German special views, the government's "heat protection plans" contain surprisingly little air conditioning. These plans were only recently revised with much fanfare and have since been more stupid than ever. There is nothing in the tips on sport that sports clubs haven't known for over 100 years (shade, drinking, skipping, oh no), and certainly nothing on air conditioning. Air conditioning systems are included as "only if necessary" in the tips for the construction of new psychotherapeutic practices in the heat protection plan. Why "if necessary"? If any of our readers are building a new practice: Please plan air conditioning right along with the heating. It will pay off. You would almost think that the federal heat protection government is planning for falling average temperatures. However, the broad consensus is for rising temperatures.

Germany's obsession with virtue has never shown anyone the way

Let's take a look at Spain: Heat mortality has been falling there for years. However, it is much hotter in Spain due to the latitude. Moreover, the last time I looked at my Milky Way map, Spain was on the same planet as Germany, so it is also affected by global warming. So how is it possible to have fewer heat-related health problems there? This rhetorical question is very German. Every hot country knows exactly how to do it: they cool indoor spaces with air conditioning so that people can retreat there. This is particularly important in hospitals, retirement homes and similar properties. Every civilized person in the world recognizes the opportunities offered by air conditioning technology in this area. Only the Germans hesitate, purely as a virtue signal.

Instead of effective cooling technology, there are competitions in highly efficient burning of taxpayers' money like the "heat phones" in my area, which were whipped through the media village as a laughingstock of the summer slump. If it's 39° C at night in an old city penthouse and nobody can sleep, you can call the state heat service and then not sleep either, because "maybe have a drink" won't cool you down either. The people in charge must have patted each other on the back because they did something. You'd like to put them all in granny's reindeer coat and lock them up in the 39° C attic with just a phone to keep them cool.

Tax money to refrigeration engineers

Let's assume that the money for heat protection plans and heat hotlines and all the other completely useless fuss were fixed in amount. You would have to spend the money on heat protection or it would go up in flames. Then every euro invested in air conditioning in public buildings would be infinitely more effective than any heat protection plan full of platitudes, because its effect is zero. Perhaps the benefit of the plans is even negative, because they collectively increase head temperatures due to anger.

If we diverted the money to air conditioning in this way, no other country would bat an eyelid or even perceive us as less virtuous. On the contrary, it would look very good for Germany if the weakest, the elderly and the sick could have it cooler in summer instead of being mocked by a heat hotline. Out of sheer system inertia, we have to expect more heat protection blah-blah and "air conditioning is harmful" next summer. Fortunately, a change in morals does not start with politics, but with the public. Why don't you reconsider your attitude to morality and the climate compressor? Raise a little wind. Politicians and the media will then hang their flags in the cool wind.

(cgl)