Report: Colder climates are less sustainable than warmer ones

In terms of energy, warmer cities may actually be less demanding than colder ones.

According to NBCNews, it takes more energy to warm a city up than cool it down.

The findings came from a study done by Michael Sivak, a professor at the University of Michigan. Sivak explained that in his data he found that an air conditioner is four times more energy efficient than a furnace or boiler, because of the energy it takes to heat up a room as opposed to cooling it down.

“The traditional view that living in hot desert areas is not sustainable should be re-examined,” Michael Sivak told NBC News. “Because my data suggest that from this point of view — mainly a climate control point of view — living in very cold areas is less sustainable than hot areas.”

Sivak also found that a city with colder climate like Minneapolis is over three times more energy-demanding than Miami.

He suggested that people in cold climates should find alternative heating methods to take less stress off energy demands, like building a passive solar house.