40% of French homes lack solar protection, a statistic revealing a habitability crisis amid a climate emergency. While thermometers soar, landlords and governments evade their responsibility, leaving tenants to pay for solutions or endure extreme temperatures. Shifting the cost onto those with the fewest resources is not only unjust, it is hypocrisy that turns the right to decent housing into a luxury.
The passive technology that already exists and isn't installed 🏠
Technical solutions such as retractable awnings, aluminum blinds with thermal insulation, solar window films, or high-reflectance textile awnings are effective and affordable. Their installation reduces indoor temperature by 5 to 10 degrees without energy consumption. However, their absence in the French rental housing stock is not due to a lack of technical knowledge, but to the will of landlords who prioritize savings over habitability. Clear regulations requiring these protections as a basic necessity, accompanied by public aid to avoid skyrocketing rents, is the only realistic path forward.
The new Olympic sport: surviving the sauna rental 🔥
While French landlords wonder if air conditioning is a modern whim, tenants compete in the thermal survival category. The record is held by an apartment in Marseille where the temperature reached 42 degrees and the owner suggested opening the fridge to cool off. The problem isn't the heat, the market seems to think, but the lack of creativity among renters. Soon we'll see ads for studios with an included oven and a terrace for barbecues without leaving the living room.