In the area of upstate New York, resident Dason Motayne feels the affects of his straining air conditioning unit as the summer heat outcompete’s the mid-century apartment’s system.
“I think [my AC] is about to die,” he said. “It’s an old building, so it’s hard to regulate it in the summertime.”
According to AccessWire, That old building – the 418 Fabius senior public housing complex in Syracuse, New York – is far from unique. It was built in the 1950s, a time when the U.S. government authorized a huge influx of some 135,000 units of public housing per year. In 2018, inspectors found more than one in four public housing units were in a state of disrepair (PDF). Whether due to poor insulation or little to no air conditioning, these public housing buildings struggle with cooling, which means that the disproportionately older and chronically ill residents are more vulnerable to poor indoor air quality and worsening heat waves.
Unfortunately, these types of public housing buildings have seen fewer investments or innovations that could make them more comfortable – and more environmentally sustainable, said Bill Simmons, executive director of Syracuse Housing Authority, which owns 418 Fabius.