Living Green in Istanbul

Istanbul has an average daytime temperature not much cooler than that of Dallas, though the sea certainly provides for cooler nights. Though it's October, the last few days have been down-right hot - temps up to 90 degrees and cloudless skies. A bubble of pinkish haze has formed over the city because there has been no wind. The sunsets have been gorgeous, lighting the smog in golds and purples so it glows from within like a halo over the highrises and mosques.

Despite the heat and stale air, we have been nothing but cool and crisp in our temporary apartment near the Bosporus although we don't have an air-conditioner. Almost no one here does.

The cool apartment is courtesy of steel, concrete and cinder-block construction, which is standard for most buildings here. The thick stone walls keep the interiors cool in the summer and are heated with radiators in the winter. An added bonus: buildings here are fire resistant - no wood, no drywall, gorgeous red tile roofs.

Too bad we don't build this way in Dallas.