A study investigates the effect of air conditioning systems on air temperature and electricity demand. The study's findings: the release of waste heat (via AC systems) exacerbates the nocturnal urban heat island, thus increasing cooling demands.
"In Phoenix, a team from the University of Arizona found that air conditioning didn't make much of a difference in outdoor daytime temperatures, but at night, when temperatures drop to about 80 degrees, heat pushed outside by air conditioning heated up the ambient air by as much as two degrees," reports Lloyd Alter.
Alter is sharing the news of the study (titled "Anthropogenic heating of the urban environment due to air conditioning"), first detailed by Candace Pearson at BuildingGreen (that article is blocked by a paywall). Alter shares this snippet from the BuildingGreen article: "With extreme heat projected to increase this century, this positive feedback loop could prove a public-health concern or put further strain on electrical grids; in Phoenix, energy used for cooling already sometimes rises to half of the region’s total electrical consumption."
FULL STORY: Phoenix is cooking the planet to refrigerate its buildings

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
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Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
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Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?
TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

Toronto Weighs Cheaper Transit, Parking Hikes for Major Events
Special event rates would take effect during large festivals, sports games and concerts to ‘discourage driving, manage congestion and free up space for transit.”

Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan
The area bound by the 22-mile Ringbahn would still allow 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person, and several other exemptions.
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