Nisadas

Melting ice cubes by Stevendepolo

Following up on the maverick Junichrio Koizumi’s 2005 “Cool Biz” campaign it seems that that “the Prime Minister of Bangladesh has ordered public servants to ditch suits and ties for short-sleeved shirts to cut air-conditioning use in the power-starved nation.” (via the Freakonomics blog).

This brings to mind the subject of the necktie. I’ve hated having to wear the  thing since my school days, but mostly because of the heat. Not many school halls were air conditioned in those days. If I were living in colder climes (perhaps Kandy even) I’d be more sympathetic towards this accessory. I certainly don’t mind wearing one in the air conditioned environs of our offices, but I make sure it comes off if I ever have to take a walk in the afternoons. How our schoolgirls cope is beyond me.

With Sri Lanka’s position so close to the equator, heat will always be a problem. Well, a problem for anyone wanting to wear clothes designed for countries with colder climate. Therefore, I can understand why there would be a leaning towards changing things as drastically as in Japan and Bangladesh.

However, I doubt Sri Lanka will adopt such a measure and doubt even more whether our corporate execs will let go of their “corporate image”.

Nevertheless, there’s good reason why reducing our power consumption for air conditioning purposes would be a good idea. According to an article in the Nation, 60 percent of Sri Lanka’s electricity generation is through diesel. This may not be a problem if we hit oil off the coast, but with global oil prices slowly rising, there’s bound to be problems with the related costs.

Therefore, I forsee opportunities for the future;

1. In terms of suits and clothes, I’m sure there’ll be demand for those that can maintain a “corporate” look while still being compatible with the scorching heat of Sri Lanka.
2. In terms of design, architects who can design the coolest buildings (in both senses of the word) will undoubtably have a higher demand for their services, especially with the shortage of hotel rooms forecast.
3. Air conditioning companies could step in and provide services for making exisiting air conditioning systems more efficient and effective. Sometimes our buildings might be unnecessarily cold and thereby costly due to not using the most efficient settings.

Not much chance of the necktie going away, but I’m sure Sri Lanka will find some interesting ways of keeping cool…