@sickburnbro @Diogenese_Shiplap @doonxib Old antebellum houses in the South are more or less modified dog-trots, i.e. long breezeway between the two living spaces. Thick walls, plenty of openable windows, but also with shutters so you can keep the Sun out. And lots of overhang (porch, etc.) on South-facing side.

You can build to accommodate natural ventilation, but it's expensive. Really, really expensive. With modern technology, a whole-house fan can make a breeze when there isn't one. But if the house isn't built for it, it's no bueno. Electricity is cheap enough we just built shitboxes and stick an AC in it.

In the South, you're supposed to chill out during the hottest part of the day. On Crete, when the Meltimi winds from Africa blow onshore during the summer, they just fuck off in the middle of the day. Everything just closes, and reopens in the late afternoon when it becomes habitable for humans again.

Americans optimized for cheap, and we got it, good and hard.