New York gets blackouts from time to time — the most prominent in recent memory being the one that followed Hurricane Sandy. Another thing New York gets a lot of? Glass-encased buildings, in which people buy condos. Now a study by the Urban Green Council concludes with data common sense might suggest: Those condos tend to get pretty warm when the power is out, compared to other types of buildings. While temperatures following Sandy stayed cool, summertime blackouts are not unheard of here. And that’s when things get interesting. “The study found that if a similar blackout happened during a summer heat wave, the effect would be more severe: Interior temperatures could rise to more than 90 degrees the first day in a glass-walled building. After seven days, temperatures might peak at more than 102 degrees in the afternoon.” Maybe throw a handheld fan in that emergency kit.
