The only place in the world I have seen cold AC on the street - in the desert no less!! Great place for an afternoon swim on the beach and meal in the evening.
How it works: air sucked in from outside is passed through an underground evaporative cooler, which lowers its temperature through condensation. Then, the air is passed over the water again, to cool it further, and passed out through grills onto the plaza, up to a height of about 2m.
The creators of the technology, Air2O, claim the method uses only 47 per cent of the energy used in conventional air conditioning units. However, its effectiveness relies on external conditions: on a very windy day, for example, the cooled air could be swept away much more quickly, making the whole thing far less efficient.
