Today it is reported that 1/2 of the United States will be affected by hot weather and across Canada it is the same. Alberta broke a record for electrical demand and Ontario is asking people to use their air conditioning after peak periods of the day so there isn’t a shortage or power failure.

Buildings are supposed to reflect solar radiation or protect from it or just like UV burns skin, UV “burns” buildings. The exterior of the building generates extreme heat the building isn’t insulated for and the heat transfers inside the building where A/C is used to cool the building. A/C is in fact refrigeration and the same as leaving the fridge door open to cool the building except A/C for each building can requires thousands of watts of electrical generation per hour..

Building codes are specific, we just couldn’t see it before. Here is a 12 hour time-lapsed infrared video from inside a building and there should be little change if any. You will see we are reacting to symptoms with massive energy waste and more emissions without addressing the cause. As a result, more climate change, weather severity, forest fires, etc. The screen shot directly below shows an exterior wall 12 hours apart, imagine the heat required to impose that thermal load on the framing? That lumber has moisture content and the building will expand or contract more with this heat load. Is it affecting fire separations?

There are reasons trees protect the surface of the planet from the sun’s radiation and they protect buildings. Here is another time-lapsed infrared video of solar radiation and shade effect right after sunrise.

There is more information at this link on urban heat islands.