Apartment dwellers in DC want air conditioning mandates to change
Some DC residents have no control over air conditioning
Did you enjoy the summer-like temperatures this week? Not everyone did -- especially those people who don't have control over the air conditioning in their D.C. apartments. FOX 5's Adrienne DiPiazza reports from Northwest with how one D.C. woman is taking action.
WASHINGTON - Many people in the D.C. area likely turned on their air conditioning for the first time in 2023 this week.
The temperatures in the first week of April felt more like summer than spring with Reagan National Airport setting a record temperature of 87 degrees on Wednesday.
"It's almost 90 degrees outside, I think, and in my apartment it's 84, so I have not had a break from the 80-degree weather all day," said Tuly Stern who lives in Northwest D.C.
Stern, like many others in D.C., lives in a rent-controlled apartment. She's in Adam's Morgan. Her utilities are included, but her building doesn't turn air conditioning on until May 15.
She works from home part of the week and says she and her pets are miserable.
She contacted her apartment building manager to see if the air conditioning could be turned on and got a less than favorable answer, explaining the building would not turn the AC on prior to May 15, and that it was in compliance with D.C. law.
Tuly Stern
That is technically true.
D.C. housing code standards require the AC to work by May 15 each year and that the inside temperature be 78 degrees or 15 degrees below the outside temperature – whichever is higher.
Stern said she couldn't afford most of the newer buildings in D.C. that allow individual units to control their own heat and AC. She opted for the rent-controlled building and moved in two weeks ago.
"Who tends to live in those buildings? It's more marginalized in low-income communities, so it leads to a bigger discussion about that too," she said.
Hearing about many others with experiences like her own, led Stern to create an online petition to get the May 15 date a second look by D.C. officials.
"Just because people are paying lower rent doesn't mean they should be subject to inhabitable units and an 84-degree apartment is quite hot," she said.
Students in D.C. felt the heat this week, too. A conversation brewed on Twitter about hot classrooms. 4
Fourth grade math teacher Alexa Cacibauda tweeted out the thermostat in her classroom at Wheatley Education Campus reached 81 degrees.
Cacibauda told FOX 5 over the phone the windows only open slightly in her classroom. She had a fan going and turned off the lights, but it was cooler for her students to be outside.
She said she's taught in Northwest, Northeast and Southeast schools and there are inequities in all facilities.
"Public schools are dealing with the same issue. Public schools, the classrooms are over 80 degrees," Stern said.
A DCPS spokesperson tells FOX 5 they begin switching over all school buildings starting on April 1.
D.C.'s Department of General Services sent FOX 5 the following statement:
"DGS remains committed to providing safe and efficient air filtration, ventilation, and comfort within all District buildings. Some school facilities are able to turn on their air conditioning system because they have a newer system which requires a less intensive process. Other facilities use an older system which requires a more intense heating to cooling turnover process. We appreciate your patience during the annual cooling switchover period that began on April 1 and will continue until May 15."