Air conditioning intensity is the ratio of air-conditioning consumption or expenditures to square footage of cooled floor space and cooling degree-days (base 65°F). This intensity provides a way of comparing different types of housing units and households by controlling for differences in housing unit size and weather conditions.

 

The square footage of cooled floor space is equal to the product of the total square footage times the ratio of the number of rooms that could be cooled to the total number of rooms. If the entire housing unit is cooled, the cooled floorspace is the same as the total floorspace. The ratio is calculated on a weighted, aggregate basis according to this formula:

 

    air-conditioning intensity = Btu for air conditioning/(cooled square feet × cooling degree days)