Japan school children wilt in under-insulated classrooms

Net zero is a joke. It’s impossible to attain.

you can’t get more from less

that said, maybe school break should be longer?

Schools are closed for the summer.

Who did plan and develop those school buildings?

Or question should be, who really plan and develop buildings and housing across Japan? Cold during winter, which will consume energy for winter. During hot during summer days need energy to cool down.

So either winter or summer, you'll need energy. That should be avoided by building better building or housing.

.

https://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/why-are-japanese-homes-so-poorly-insulated

Talking from experience, as I am now on summer holiday.

Not just poor insulation, either. It also doesn’t help when the windows are left wide open with aircon blasting. How’s that gonna cool the rooms? Meaningless waste of energy.

Schools are closed for the summer.

In August, but it is still brutally hot from June and July.

No, it's inevitable. Only question is by when.

Net zero is a joke. It’s impossible to attain.

you can’t get more from less

that said, maybe school break should be longer?

how did kids survive when the buildings were new(er) and pre- aircon I wonder....

Not just poor insulation, either. It also doesn’t help when the windows are left wide open with aircon blasting. How’s that gonna cool the rooms? Meaningless waste of energy.

I do see that a lot, about a month ago I had to give something to my daughter and went to her school, the AC was on, it wasn't that bad, but the classroom could have been a lot cooler had they closed the windows!!! Just doesn't make any sense and defies all logic.

how did kids survive when the buildings were new(er) and pre- aircon I wonder....

It wasn't as hot back then as it is today which is why they could get away without using insulation historically.

aaronagstring

Talking from experience, as I am now on summer holiday.

Not just poor insulation, either. It also doesn’t help when the windows are left wide open with aircon blasting. How’s that gonna cool the rooms? Meaningless waste of energy.

Yes. After decades of living here it never ceases to amaze me how the locals have no understanding of how open doors and windows counteract the benefit of having the AC on, and are a significant waste of money and resources.

bass4funk

how did kids survive when the buildings were new(er) and pre- aircon I wonder....

It wasn't as hot back then as it is today which is why they could get away without using insulation historically.

A climate change supporter.

Schools are closed for the summer.

They are closed, generally speaking, for only about a month. Some districts and municipalities actually have an even shorter summer break.

Schools often reopen either the 2nd or 3rd week of August. Summer runs from at least, July to September, so the student are only possibly off for a 1/3 or less of the summer.

Lets not forget teachers are now working in the summer as well, and students are going to school for club activities and other events and many are IN school during the summer.

It is not black and white as you seem to think here.

Club before school,no food from early breakfast to lunch,and boring lessons may also be contributing factors to drowsiness.

Yubaru

Schools are closed for the summer.

It is not black and white as you seem to think here.

Maybe for you, I should have added

Schools are closed for the Summer break.

Our local children are on the beach most of the day.

Japan school children wilt in under-insulated classrooms

Joke right? Under-insulated? More like NO insulation. Yet insulation is not the problem. Not having a/c or, and yeah it happens in a few schools I have been in, they HAVE a/c but can not use it because the municipality doesnt have the budget to pay the electric bills.

Typically in an ES, and it has been getting better, the library, staff room, nurses office, and computer rooms have a/c. Some schools get government subsidies here for a/c and the utility bills because they need to keep windows closed due to noise pollution from the military bases. Those schools have 100% coverage, and some also have gyms that have a/c too.

Steel reinforced concrete is what is typically used in construction, and the walls are just painted over in the classrooms, with no paneling or insulation installed. Concrete is hell in summer and the arctic in winter.

The school need to have walls put up, with insulation behind them, OVER the concrete, but construction costs will skyrocket.

In the old days, the "wood" schools were better, but even they were hell in summer too.

Schools in urban areas have to have a/c in all the schools, leaving the windows open does nothing to cool things down when you have the heat of the city, and blast furnace winds, blowing through windows, IF there is even a breeze. And all fans do is blow around hot air anyway.

Schools are closed for the Summer break.

"Schools are closed for the summer break" Everyone knows that, but even that is not accurate, as teachers are "working" so schools are actually open.

No public schools shut down for the summer.

Schools are closed for the Summer break.

Wrong.

Schools are open for club activities among other things.

Yubaru

Schools are closed for the Summer break.

"Schools are closed for the summer break" Everyone knows that, but even that is not accurate, as teachers are "working" so schools are actually open.

They are not working in the classrooms.

No public schools shut down for the summer.

Schools are closed for students. Our students are not attending spending their days on the beach.

 Summer vacation covers the 40-odd days from July 20 to August 31;

zibalaToday 08:01 am JST

Schools are closed for the Summer break.

Wrong.

Schools are open for club activities among other things.

The students do not have to attend. Our students are on the beach.

Present solar activity is big and that is contributing to the heat

Manmade warming is negligible.

You're looking back 600 million years to find good CO2 levels for human life? Lol

> Although levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have risen slightly in recent decades, the levels are still low compared with the past 600 million years. The current atmospheric CO2 level is around 420ppm, which is critically too low.

We actually need more CO2, not less.

Scientists agree with each other and especially with who is funding them, which is the money interests intent on harvesting us.

Read "Global Warming Science," by The Science Analyst

You're looking back 600 million years to find good CO2 levels for human life? Lol

An anonymous internet poster casting doubt on scientists who provide the data and open their research up to peer review? Lol

Present solar activity is big and that is contributing to the heat

Manmade warming is negligible.

the opposite is what has been proved scientifically, nameless people on the internet using zero evidence are not something that can refute the scientific consensus.

Man-made climate change and "Net Zero" are just another hoax, another scam

According of course to the people that make the most money from fossil fuels, meanwhile the scientists that study the field all agree your claim is the one that is false.

Only 0.3% of scientists believe in man-made climate change.

Making up imaginary numbers without any basis on reality demonstrates you understand your claim is false, so you have to make up things to support it.

Read "Global Warming Science," by The Science Analyst

Read primary sources, peer reviewed scientific reports, there is no doubt since a long time ago, climate change made by humans is real.

So either winter or summer, you'll need energy. That should be avoided by building better building or housing.

It's pretty easy to understand those saying the big energy related companies oppose changes to building codes as that might nick a bit from the profits they've made all these generations.New building codes are needed to reflect changing weather patterns, and older buildings need to be retrofitted.

diagonalslipToday  07:21 am JST

how did kids survive when the buildings were new(er) and pre- aircon I wonder....

Ask any Japanese above 50 years old, and they will tell you that when they were kids, summer days with temperatures above 30°C were rare. Now, it is days with temperatures below 30°C that are rare.

Schools are closed for the summer.

My kids have been off every year from around July 15th until just after Obon. This year our youngest goes back on August 21st. That's still official summer with the beaches and public pools still open. This is fairly common across Nagano. Instead we get quite a few pain in the butt half days or odd holidays here and there which vary between elementary and JHS and must be a lot of bother for parents who both work.

Very few school buildings in Nagano will have been built with air con, but some are being retrofitted.

Schools will still be operating in Covid mode, which means windows left open for ventilation.

So what a second. I put in insulation and my hvac works better! amazing - how come no one knows that. Pitful.

@VR

Here’s some evidence for ya

Long before man was on the scene , temperatures were higher.

The data refutes your position.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous_Thermal_Maximum

How about making summer vacations longer instead of not having to whine about spending the plethora of tax money you don't use?

No one is saying otherwise. But this isn't evidence that there's no man-made global warming in the post-industrial era... Unless you don't understand science.

@VR

Here’s some evidence for ya

Long before man was on the scene , temperatures were higher.

The data refutes your position.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous_Thermal_Maximum

Here’s some evidence for ya

Long before man was on the scene , temperatures were higher

That does nothing against the scientific conclusions

-Solar activity has absolutely nothing to do with the current crisis.

-It is caused by human activity

-It will have disastrous effects on human life around the globe.

Does the word "insulated" even exists in the Japanese language?

This is true to some degree if you consider only one scientific article on a topic. Not so much if you consider the tens of thousands of articles related to the topic, when nearly all draw the same conclusion.

if you're dumb enough to believe in the integrity of the peer-review system, then you're a danger to yourself and your loved ones.

Recent years Japan's LDP government willingly spend immense taxpayers money to benefit arms industries or large corporations, but always dislike to use it for society.

Private food aids or poverty households who worried about even term of summer vacation without school lunch are increasing year by year, but LDP government does nothing despite highest ever tax revenue.

You're looking back 600 million years to find good CO2 levels for human life? Lol

Make the Cambrian Great Again!

(Brought to you by the Republican National Committee, Japan Lib Dems and grants from Shell Oil, BP, Exxon Mobil Corp and the Royal Saudi Investment Fund).

if no money for bulding insulation than just have summer holidays like in country.kids are full 3 months at home-june to sep.

problem solved.

If only it were just schools!

Can we also talk about the typical Japanese appartment?

It's incredible to me how Japanese schools do sports, but don't have shower rooms.

I work at a school in Japan that doesn't have its gym air conditioned. They can afford to air condition it, they just chose not too. Students are sent to the health room with heat stroke daily, mainly during club activities after school. Normally we teach health lessons in July so we can move into an air conditioned room, but it shouldn't have to be that way.

Funny thing is that 95% of the houses build nowadays are the same, ZERO insulation, made out of wood and cart board. That's all. Zero insulation, zero sound proofing and zero thermal resistance.

Is like Japan is stuck in the 1800 as far as house building goes.

You can always find the best ideas here in this room

The elementary school near my house just got air conditioning three years ago. I’m guessing insulation will never happen here.

Also, none of the school gyms in my city are air conditioned. Some schools have their PE classes in the gym to avoid the summer heat but you can imagine the gym isn’t much cooler.

wallaceToday  07:03 am JST

Schools are closed for the summer.

They are but some kids still go to school especially for club activities (bukatsu) which continue through the summer.

Not only classrooms but most school gyms have no air conditioning. My son plays volleyball in what's essentially a sauna but they say it 'builds' character and toughness. Maybe it does... If he doesn't get heat stroke.

Buildings in Japan are terribly designed with it comes to insulation. It's boiling in the summer; freezing in winter. The poor kids. Might as well make them take classes outside if they're going to continue to force them to have lessons in sweltering classrooms.

I laughed when I saw Japan's answer two decades ago to keeping children in sweltering summer classrooms was to "add a/c to every room!". It seemed more of a payout to Panasonic than anything useful for keeping people cool. Single glass pained windows on deformed frames in 30 year old buildings, all built incredibly cheap to begin with.

The obvious answer is to ACTUALLY have a summer vacation and close the schools. No club, no practice, etc. Parents will be angry at the loss of free baby-sitting, but for the parents of the kids in hundreds that die every year of heatstroke on school grounds, or at least are hospitalized, they might just want to invest a little more, so to speak.

under-insulated

You mean there is some insulation here? Gosh, that is news. Most buildings are freezing in winter and roasting at this time of year.

Guess I have turned into one of those guys........

when I went to school, we didn't have air conditioning. Maybe that is why summer break was so long back then. School ended in the middle of June, and didn't start again until after Labor Day, in September. This year, Labor Day is September 2nd. I also remember that the worst of the hot spells were usually over by the middle of September.

Japanese walls are traditionally thin, so I guess they are just running with tradition. At least your schools have aircon.

Glad my dear son stopped attending school.

He doesn’t have to worry about such things as he will be well looked after all his life by his father and extended family. Schools here are so poorly funded, it’s a national disgrace.

If he needs further education he can go to the U.K., his gran and grandad said they will pay for him you see.

Japan has nice boats. In the future, Japan can have educational cruises to western Australia, where it is rather cool right now. Learning could happen on the boat docks, or maybe renting some land for schools would work. No place is going to get any cooler, though some places may get windier. Plan ahead.

@VR

-Solar activity has absolutely nothing to do with the current crisis.

.

It must be lunar activity then?

I have always wondered why it is hotter at night than in the day..

It must be lunar activity then?

I have always wondered why it is hotter at night than in the day..

Trying to find out progressively less and less rational explanations makes absolutely no sense when the clear, obvious and well supported explanation is already available.

It is the human activity, proved beyond any rational doubt. Pretending that the scientist of the whole world get this wrong is not rational, it is just the same excuse antiscientific propaganda groups use when the evidence disprove their beliefs, from flat-earthers to people selling magical vitamins.

Summer vacation covers the 40-odd days from July 20 to August 31;

As I mentioned to you earlier, it's not "black and white", and school districts have different schedules.

The one in "your" village may have it this way, but believe me, as a fact, not all are the same, not even close!

Much depends upon whether they are on a 2 or 3 semester school year. One's with 3 semesters, generally have a shorter summer break, and also have an autumn break as well.

Helps to actually understand the systems at play here, and not just your inaka neck of the woods.

I don't live in a village or inaka. I live in a city.

I attended a middle school without any A/C at all. Outside was over 31°C, sometimes 34°C. It was hot.

Further, we were required to wear long pants as part of the dress code. The school would open all the windows and doors everywhere to get airflow working. Huge fans pushing air through the hallways and 1 osculating fan at the back corner of every classroom pushing the air from outside into the hallway. Papers would fly sometimes, if a book didn't hold them down.

Where I live, the fall school session just started this week. High temperatures have been around 33°C all week. The mornings, before noon, have been 29 or less with nightly lows around 25.

Humans CAN get used to hot weather, but it takes 4-6 weeks of exposure for that to happen. I start in May and try to avoid using any A/C until Mid-June. Now, when it is less than 26, I need a sweater to keep the chills away.

In the fall, as temperatures cool, I'll avoid using heat to allow acclimatization for colder temperatures. I usually lose this decision around 18°C. Men are like furnaces. Women, not so much - in general. There are exceptions.

Where I live, the fall school session just started this week. High temperatures have been around 33°C all week. The mornings, before noon, have been 29 or less with nightly lows around 25.

Thank you for sharing this. There are a few posters here who obstinately think that all schools run on the same schedules and obviously they dont.

Men are like furnaces. Women, not so much - in general.

Yup! I can attest to this fact! My wife can't sleep with me in summer as I just make everything hot, and I need a/c and fans at night to keep comfortable.

Winter is a different story!