Beat The Heat (And Save Energy): Show Some Leg!

You start in a thin suit, long-sleeve shirt, socks, underwear, and shoes...

BY hans villarica | August 8, 2011

Our math:
Using the apparel industry's insulation measure ("clo"), we found how many degrees cooler or warmer attire changes make people. Then we calculated energy savings based on turning a building's AC or heat down by those degrees.

Spring/
Summer

Dress Change	Cooling Power	Savings for a Three-Story Office Building	Savings for the Empire State Building
No suit jacket	-4.0 F	$157	$72,000
Short-sleeve shirt	-0.8 F	$31	$14,400
Shorts	-0.9 F	$35	$16,200
Sandals, no socks	-0.3 F	$12	$5,400
Six-Month Total	-6.0 F	$235	$108,000

Fall/
Winter

Dress Change	Warming Power	Savings for a Three-Story Office Building	Savings for the Empire State Building
Thicker Suit	+1.7 F	$462	$212,500
Sweater	+1.7 F	$462	$212,500
Long Underwear	+3.9 F	$1,060	$487,500
Boots	+0.9 F	$245	$112,500
Six-Month Total	+9.9 F	$2,691	$1,237,500
Total Annual Savings		$2,926	$1,345,500*

*The Empire State Building is in the middle of a $20 million retrofit aimed at reducing annual energy expenses by $4.4 million. If workers simply dressed down there, it could reach 30% of the target savings at virtually no cost.

A version of this article appears in the September 2011 issue of Fast Company.

From Issue 158 | August 2011