City Government Bringing the Heat on Shop Owners Who Share AC

SPRING, TX, June 28, 2012 (Press-News.org) More than forty New York businesses have been deemed by officials to be too wasteful, leaving their doors open to let the cool air spill out onto the sidewalks in waves of thriftless arrogance. Just in time for us to enjoy lunch, temperatures were soaring well in to the 90's while these local businesses frivolously consumed massive amounts of extra energy spanning Broadway for four blocks, from Houston to Grand Streets in SoHo.

West 34th had a similar situation in an area synonymous with tourists & chain stores. Between Fifth Avenue and Avenues of the Americas, nearly 20 shops had doors wide open and air conditioning blasting pouring out of them. The cold air rushing into the streets from one store in particular, could be felt 15 feet away from their door.

This is a norm for most New Yorkers but now it is not only wasteful, but illegal. Four years ago, New York City Council voted against this lavishness and in 2010 began to enforce it. The new law applies to stores with 4,000 square feet or less and which are part of chains with at least 5 outlets city wide.

Many citizens are outraged wondering what right the government has to decide for shop owners in situations like this, to which the Council said simply, public policy since 2008 is to "conserve energy, reduce peak power demands during hot weather periods and limit environmental pollution and local contributions to global warming."

There is more being risked than instilling a little bit of environmentally sound character. In less than 50 years, this hub of civilization, the great New York City, has endured not one, not two, but three devastating blackouts. And every summer some neighborhoods lose power, which has affected Queens especially.

On days with extremely high temperatures, power grids can be pushed to the maximum limits. Officials see little need to spend city dollars advertising the benefits of energy conservation by limiting the overuse of commercial air conditioning. Business owners claim it brings in customers, but this could be the straw to break the proverbial camels back.

The mayor, not so enthusiastically, signed the law but it is not being stringently enforced. Last summer, more than 500 inspections were conducted by the Department of Consumer Affairs where warnings or violations were issued for 199 stores.

Barry Andrews, owner of Air National of Houston, a regional air conditioning and heating service provider, stated, "Leaving the doors open really causes the air conditioning units to have to work overtime. Whenever a rush of cold air leaves a building, then by default, that air must be replaced with humid, warm air from the outside, really making the AC system struggle."

It's not only the electric bill that can be staggering, but the fines that incur due to the flagrant violations. There is only a warning for a first offense, but it costs after that. A second violations yields a fine of $200, subsequent violations within an 18 month period can cost $400 in fines. Fines are simply dismissed as a business cost for many stores, however.

Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer believes the municipalities to be lagging in these endeavors. She gathered statistics from Consumer Affairs that show from 2010 through last month, that 348 warnings were issued while only 25 violation citations were issued. Three weeks ago she wrote the commissioner, inquiring of his enforcement strategy for this summer, but Mr. Mintz has failed to respond.

Air National of Houston is a service-oriented provider of residential and commercial Air Conditioning and Heating systems. For more information, please contact us at (281) 251-3143.

Website: http://www.AirNationalHouston.com