Air Conditioning Transformed the 20th Century

Air conditioning for comfort in buildings developed rapidly over the 20th century. From the earliest approaches of blowing air through cheesecloth filters and over blocks of ice, through the movie theatre boom of the 1920s that spurred advancement in ventilation technologies, to the sophisticated mechanical refrigeration systems of the mid and late century, air conditioning has driven change in many of the world’s institutions of industry and leisure.

The pioneers and innovators among air-conditioning design engineers, equipment manufacturers, mechanical contractors, and the teams of maintenance engineers that keep the systems operating have allowed architects to design buildings that would not have been possible before them. This book tells their story—what they accomplished and how they did it.

This book was published in celebration of ASHRAE’s 125th Anniversary and is cosponsored by The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).