Japan Dresses Down to Save Energy

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is urging businessmen to doff their suits this summer to save air-conditioning energy. “I, too, will go without jackets and ties,” said Koizumi, who called for setting thermostats no cooler than 82° F (28° C). Japan imports more than 80% of its energy, and has committed, through the Kyoto Protocol, to bringing its greenhouse-gas emissions to 6% below its 1990 levels by 2012. For more on thermal comfort, see

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Vol. 13, No. 7.