Proposed Chicago ordinance will require landlords to provide air conditioning

Currently landlords are required to provide heating to a minimum temperature, but not cooling. Given many buildings were built before air conditioning was widely adopted, this sort of makes sense. Except that Chicago’s summer is unbearable without air conditioning. If the regulation makes sense for heating, it makes sense for cooling too. Regulators should beware of second-order effects, though, because the cheapest air conditioners also use the most energy. | learn more