UN plans a pilot program to change climate - its own

By Neil MacFarquhar
Published: July 31, 2008

UNITED NATIONS, New York: The United Nations has long been accused by its detractors of generating hot air. Starting in August, a glance at the thermostat in the Secretariat building will provide confirmation.
To set an example in the effort to curb energy use that contributes to global warming, the secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, has approved a one-month pilot project to raise the thermostat settings throughout much of the landmark building to 77 degrees Fahrenheit from 72, (to 25 degrees Celsius from 22).
The thermostats in the often-windowless conference rooms, where much of the haggling and some of the more impenetrable seminars unroll, will be set at 75 Fahrenheit (23 Celsius), up from 70 (21 Celsius).
The building's carbon dioxide emissions are expected to drop by approximately 300 tons, and costs are expected to decrease by $100,000, said Michael Adlerstein, who announced the experiment Wednesday and who will oversee building renovations. He said savings could reach $1 million annually if the United Nations mandated temperature changes year round.
Achieving a uniform temperature in the 39-story building, which was built in 1952, ranks up there with world peace as a noble, if unlikely, goal. Some rooms, notably the General Assembly and the basement, are frigid. Others feel distinctly tropical.

Among other problems, the interior space of the building has been carved up so many times that thermostats no longer correspond precisely with the rooms they control, Adlerstein said. He said the determining factor in whether the United Nations decided to adjust its thermostats for the long term, including keeping the building colder in winter, was the effect on productivity. Naturally, diplomats had strongly diverging views on how they would be affected.