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Comment by fred_is_fred | Hacker News Reader

Has this person ever been to Texas? Texas is not a monoclimate, but if he's proposing that all the land is parched then he's thinking west Texas. Where is all his fireplace wood coming from - there are very few trees there. How does he expect people to live there without A/C? How will these rooftop gardens survive the near constant and drying winds? As someone who has been to Amarillo more times than I wanted to, I don't think this is in any way realistic. If instead we assume this town is say within an hour of Houston - there are different concerns, but being perpetually parched is not on of them.

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He's planning for Wifi, but not A/C. Best of luck to this fellow, but I'm not sure his priorities align with most folks in this part of the country.

He doesn't say "live there without A/C". He advocates for designs not being dependent upon it--a big difference.

"All buildings must be useful and livable even with the power cut. Hence, natural ventilation, strategically designed windows that open, etc. is necessary. Obviously you can add AC (Air conditioner) on top of that, but in no way should the town be dependent on AC."

Only way for the town to not be dependent on AC is to stick it somewhere other than Texas.

People lived in Texas before there was AC.

And people lived in Texas (though far fewer) before there was indoor plumbing too.

When it's 105 degrees out with the power cut, nobody is going to be indoors for an extended period of time because stagnant hot air is more miserable than moving hot air.

Which, to me, is exactly his point--design the buildings with natural air flow so you don't suffocate when the power goes out.

No amount of natural airflow is gonna do that. There's a reason that people used to cook and eat their evening meals outdoors in the South. The only thing that drove them inside was mosquitos when the sun went down.

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