Singapore can show Asean how to cool cities without air-conditioning

WHEN temperatures rise, our instinct is to turn up the air-conditioning. In South-east Asia, that response will become increasingly costly.

Energy consumption for space cooling is on track to more than double by 2050 at the current trend, and demand will rise as cities expand, living standards improve and heat intensifies.

Air-conditioning will remain essential, but efficiency improvements cannot be the whole answer. A more durable strategy is to reduce the amount of cooling a building or district needs in the first place.