Being from Texas, that is such a strange perspective to me. Around here, air conditioning is the main reason why you need insulation.

Heating isn't a major concern. Many houses have electric heat because it just isn't worth the cost to put in something more efficient.

But air conditioning is needed a large part of the year. And in the summer it gets quite hot, so electric bills can be very expensive. So in any newer construction, there is a lot of effort to make things energy-efficient. Houses have double-pane windows, radiant barriers, thick insulation, and leak tests to make sure that hot/humid air from outside cannot make its way in.

There are certainly older buildings that aren't very energy-efficient, but around here I don't see that as being because of air conditioning.

I guess it is a progression where people learn from the problems they had before.

Step 1: It is too hot/cold here

Step 2: Lets put in heating/AC

Step 3: Damn, the electric costs are getting too high. Lets put in insulation and double-pane windows (well, actually three-pane is standard here in Sweden) to keep down the costs.

The further you live to extreme heat or cold the faster a society progress down the ladder. Which is also a reason the death rates during winter is a lot higher (per capita) in central Europe than it is in northern Europe - people in the northern parts have long since been forced to learn to build better houses whereas people in mild climates can afford to fail as it isn't that many days a year that it is a problem.

Have any part of Texas considered central cooling? It should be even more effective than having units in every house as long as it isn't too damp and the water needs to be removed as well. But perhaps that kind of solution would be too socialistic for you :P

Central cooling/heating probably isn't very popular in the US because of generally lower population densities. A

That's why there's a law in germany that you have to present an Energy Performance Certificate when you sell, let or build a house/appartement. It shows how good the building is insulated and how much energy you need to cool/heat it. But then electricity is much more expensive than in the US.

EDIT: Seems like this is true for all european countries

"houses are now built with very little regard to insulation"

I find that hard to believe. Where I live the local muni delegates to a state wide "uniform dwelling building code" I googled it for laughs and the minimum ceiling insulation as of the '09 revision was R-49 which is about 14 inches of fiberglass.

My concrete block basement walls met code 50 years ago at about R-2 insulation value, as of '09 the mandatory minimum for new basement walls is R-15, OK then..

The biggest problem I see with post-AC era houses like mine is very poor cross ventilation. I must run the AC when its 60 degrees outside because the windows are not oriented for cross ventilation so I will roast alive at 85 degrees indoors when its 60 outside without AC.

Central house fan my friend. Not too difficult to install if you're comfortable cutting sheetrock and doing a minimal amount of wiring. Run it for 15 minutes and you'll have your house cooled down considerably.

I do agree that having the house designed for good airflow in the first place would be ideal.

I have one of those. Sucks in cooler air in the basement. Takes hours for the temperature to drop a single degree.

I wholeheartedly agree. A powerful HVAC system is not an excuse to skimp on insulation! Not only does it waste energy, it also leaves you with higher utility bills and increases the chance of condensation.

Condensation is the real killer if you live in a humid climate. It damages the walls, causes mold, and can even mess with the electrical system.

Where was your house built where energy wasn't a concern? In the US, nearly all regions will get a cold winter or a really hot summer and nobody likes $300/mo utility bills so efficiency is still a concern.

It's not where, but when. I worked with a very knowledgeable realtor a few years ago when buying my house. He described (and we observed) a series of trends.

Older houses (in my area, that's early 1900s, laugh away you European readers) were built with huge beams of old-growth timber by careful craftsmen (sometimes in the Craftsman style, sometimes colonial or victorian). Houses this old typically had antique plumbing and electrical service, which needed (or now really need) upgrades, and they also will likely need window and/or siding replacement. During these repairs and remodels, smart homeowners and contractors also upgrade the energy efficiency, and there's a very strong skeleton on which to do so.

Shortly after WWII, there was a lumber shortage. You can drive around and identify the neighborhoods which were constructed in the late 40s and early 50s because the eaves only project a few inches out from the walls. These were built as fast and cheaply as possible. But for a while, energy - especially for heat - was cheap, so they kept building them.

Since then, energy has become variously more and less expensive, and manufacturing/construction techniques have produced cycles of lower quality cookie-cutter cost-optimized goods and higher-quality standardized, well engineered construction. We're riding high on an efficiency swing right now, to the point of absurdities like homes so well air-sealed between Tyvek, caulk, and air-tight electrical fixtures that you're required to install an air vent to the outdoors in the furnace room to prevent negative pressure problems.

That's what surprises me about Australia. The place can get bloody hot and yet Aussies usually stay in buildings with no thought for insulation at all.

Yeah, mostly by using crazy amounts of air conditioning and heating. It's pretty terrible. The standards for new homes are getting better, but they could go much further.