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Icon of an air conditioner with the text: air conditioning appreciation days The period from July 3 to August 15 is known as the Air Conditioning Appreciation Days, a time to celebrate the many benefits air conditioners have brought us. Air conditioning is not just about comfort but has also benefits related to health as well as to economic development and growth.

In fact, air conditioning was developed first to aid with manufacturing, not human comfort. In 1902, Willis Haviland Carrier invented the first modern air conditioning system for a printing plant in Brooklyn, New York. His invention not only cooled the air but also controlled humidity, which was crucial for the printing process. This breakthrough laid the foundation for the air conditioning systems we use today. Though initially their cost and size were too much for home use, by the mid-20^th century, advancements in technology and mass production made air conditioning more affordable for the general public.

Book cover for Cool: How Air Conditioning Changed Everything Air conditioning continues to be important in industry. Many products such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, petrochemicals, electric vehicles could not be made without temperature control. Air conditioning also provides more comfortable working conditions that in turn boost concentration and efficiency as well as provides for extended work hours. It also helps in preserving sensitive equipment and materials. Air conditioning additionally has several health benefits. By reducing heat-related illnesses and preventing heatstroke, it protects vulnerable populations such as the elderly and chronically ill. Air conditioning systems also improve indoor air quality by filtering out pollutants, allergens, and dust, benefiting those with respiratory issues.

At the same time, air conditioning has several drawbacks. High energy consumption leads to increased electricity bills and strains on power grids. Regular maintenance is necessary to keep air conditioning systems efficient, which can be costly and, if neglected, can lead to indoor air quality issues like mold and bacteria buildup. Health concerns arise from over-reliance on air conditioning, such as dry skin, respiratory issues, and reduced heat tolerance.

A book cover of Sustainable Architecture As the planet warms, the demand for air conditioning increases. Ironically, cooling is a big contributor to climate change. As noted above many existing air conditioning systems require a lot of energy, but they also use hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants, potent greenhouse gases, and so are a double burden for climate change. If changes aren’t made, emissions from refrigeration and air conditioning are expected to double by 2030 and triple by 2050.

So while there is much to be appreciated about air conditioning, we must continue to seek new and better cooling options. Nature based solutions – for example, planting urban forests, creating urban water bodies such as lakes and canals, restoring wetlands, and converting to green roofs – look promising but require more study and investment. To learn more about history and importance of air conditioning, be sure to explore these books from the Library. Also, see these resources on sustainable architecture and natural cooling.

Recent Posts

Global Dignity Day 2024

Begun in 2009 by Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, John Hope Bryant, and Pekka Himanen, Global Dignity Day seeks to move beyond what divides the world in order to recognize every person’s inherent value and humanity. It began with a small workshop in Switzerland and has since grown into a global initiative with participants from over 80 countries, reaching more than 3 million people through events, workshops, and learning experiences.Global Dignity Day promotes the idea that dignity is both an inherent quality but also a shared responsibility. Dignity is a universal human right that transcends borders, cultures, and religions. We each deserve to be treated respectfully, and we also have the duty to uphold the dignity of others. On Global Dignity Day, events across the world encourage people to explore and express what dignity means to them. They create opportunities for individuals to share their personal stories of dignity, reflect on how their actions affect others, and commit to making positive changes in their own lives and communities. Global Dignity Day is not only a celebration of human worth but also a call to action for people to contribute to a more inclusive and respectful world.To learn more about human dignity, please visit the book display on the third floor of the Library. ...

Brain Health Awareness Week 2024

For this week’s blog on Brain Health Awareness Week, we welcome guest writer, Italee Castellon, Loras College Counselor. In addition to the great events discussed below, be sure to visit the book display on the Library’s main floor.In 1990, after urging by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Congress passed a joint resolution to make the first full week in October Mental Illness Awareness Week. This week also encompasses World Mental Health Day, on October 10. At Loras we celebrate this week as “Brain Health Awareness Week” since mental health is inherently brain health. Our brain is an incredibly powerful organ that is in control of so many important features of the body and self, including how we think, move, behave, experience sensations, and overall well-being. Everything that the brain is responsible for – mental and physical – is a part of brain health.Being able to maintain good brain health is essential to overall wellness. Brain health conditions and mental health diagnoses are common, manageable, and treatable. According to Mental Health America’s 2024 Outreach Toolkit, 1 in 5 people will experience a mental health condition in any given year and about half of Americans will meet the criteria for a diagnosable mental health condition sometime in their lives. Many times, the symptoms begin to appear after the age of fourteen and especially pop up in late adolescence or early adulthood. The focus of Brain Health Awareness Week at Loras is education on brain health, encouraging and enabling people with healthy coping strategies, and contributing to destigmatization in the community. The public’s knowledge and understanding of brain health has moved in a more positive direction over the last 20 years; it is our duty to continue the spread the kindness, hope, and understanding for all Duhawks. Here are just some of the events that you are invited to participate in during this week:Vision Board Night (October 8, 6-8 pm, MARC 3rd Floor Commons): Join the Art Club and Counseling Center for a night of creativity as you get the opportunity to bring your personal vision board to life! Brain Health Screening (October 9, 1-3pm, ACC Health Center Lobby): Drop in and meet individually with a Loras counselor for a free and confidential 10-minute brain health screening. Similar to a physical wellness check, this brief mental wellness check will help you assess and gain insight into your mental well-being.Party on the MARC Lawn: (October 11, 1:30-3:30pm): Join Counseling Services and organizations across campus for an afternoon of fun, food, and fall festivities to help us stay positive and mentally healthy!...

Latin American Heritage Month 2024

Latin American Heritage Month, celebrated annually from September 15 to October 15, is a time to celebrate the vibrant cultures, histories, and contributions of Latin American communities. The Pura Belpré Award for children’s and young adult literature aligns well with these goals. The award, established in 1996, honors authors and illustrators who portray and celebrate the richness the Latin American culture. The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Puerto Rican librarian in the New York City public library system. She was known for her dedication to storytelling, cultural preservation, and advocating for bilingual literature in libraries. She was also an author as well as a collector and translator of folk tales, including her first story, Pérez and Martina, a tragic love story between a cockroach and a mouse. Both her library and literary work laid the foundation for a growing appreciation of the importance of cultural representation in books for young readers. At its heart, Latin American Heritage Month is a celebration of unity in diversity. This is true also of the Belpré award. By uplifting works that reflect the multifaceted experiences of members of Latin American communities, the award ensures that children see themselves, their culture, and their heritage represented in the books they read, while also building empathy and understanding among readers of all backgrounds. For a sampling of Belpré award winners and honors, please check out the book display on the Library’s first floor....

Banned Books Week 2024

Banned Books Week began in 1982 in response to a surge in the number of book challenges – that is, attempts by a person or group to remove or restrict certain titles from a curriculum or library collection. For over forty years, this week has served as an annual celebration of the freedom to read. The week also helps raise awareness about banned and challenged books and supports those who have faced adversity for writing, sharing, or reading these works. Perhaps the simplest way to commemorate Banned Books Week is to read a challenged or banned book. The American Library Association (ALA) has lists of the top 100 most challenged books per decade and a sampling of these are on display on the Library’s fourth floor. This year also offers the unique opportunity of attending the dedication of Dubuque’s new banned books mural, The Forbidden Bookshelf. This event has been planned by one of Loras’ Honors Program groups. What began as a general interest in the impact of public art and then more specifically in the murals in Dubuque, eventually led the honors group to reach out Sam Mulgrew, president of Humanities Iowa and one of the five directors of Voices Productions. Since 2016, Voices Productions has helped create almost 50 murals in and around Dubuque. Mulgrew expressed interest in working with the honors group on a banned book mural and they jumped at the chance. The group agreed on the importance of highlighting this issue, especially given the great increase in book challenges around the country in the last few years. The honors group has worked to help secure other community partners, specifically the Multicultural Family Center, River Lights Bookstore, Carnegie-Stout Public Library, and Dubuque Jaycees – the Jaycees building at 890 Iowa St. will be the location of the mural. The group has also helped plan the dedication of the mural on Wednesday, September 25 from 6-8pm which will include a presentation at 7pm by Steven Drahozal, an Iowa State Public Defender and first amendment advocate, called Banned Books: Lessons from Law and Literature. Following the mural dedication the honors group will turn its attention to hosting banned book book clubs throughout Dubuque. Look for information on the first one to be held at the end of October at River Lights Bookstore. The importance of this mural project has been recognized by the National Academy of Design which has awarded Voices Studios, The Abby Mural Prize, for its role to serve as a catalyst for cultural conversations that propel society forward. This seems particularly fitting given that this project supports literary artists doing the same thing. As Judith Krug, inaugural director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, stated, “People don’t challenge materials that don’t say something to the reader. If you look over the materials that have been challenged and banned over the years, they are the materials that speak to the condition of the human being, that try to illuminate the issues and concerns that affect human beings. They’re books that say something, and they’re books that have meaning to the reader. Innocuous materials are never challenged.”...

Air Conditioning Appreciation Days

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