By David Lee Miller

It seemed like a straightforward assignment: Get over to the United Nations and check out their new “Cool U.N.” plan, part of the organization’s effort to lower energy costs and reduce carbon emissions.  

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had ordered a one-month experiment designed to drastically cut the amount of air conditioning at U.N. headquarters. The building would shut down the a/c air entirely on the weekends, and set thermostats five degrees higher – from 72 to 77 – during the week. U.N. staff were told to dress down for the occasion, dropping their familiar suits and ties for more comfortable clothing. 

Familiar enough with covering hot air at the U.N. – and usually getting a quite cool reception from U.N. officials for doing it, off I went, joined at the scene by TV crews from around the world.  

It wasn’t going to be that easy. 

I mistakenly entered Ban’s conference room upon arrival – actually, so did a number of other reporters - only to find it as chilly as a meat locker. “COOL U.N.” indeed.  

That led to some rather heated informal questioning of the U.N. boss after we were brought into the room where he was to discuss his ostensibly energy-saving initiative. Here’s how it went: 

ME: Quick question, Secretary General. I notice this room is warm, but the room next door, the conference room, felt like an icebox. Why is the room next to this one so cold?  

BAN: I have been feeling at times very warm in this room. So I had to move sometimes to my next door conference room.

ME: It’s like a meat locker in there. 

BAN: Next door will be set at 77 degrees. 

ME: But why is it so much colder in there now?  

BAN: Because of this particular situation in this room the temperature may be a little bit warmer than normal, but conference will be set at 77 degrees.  

Moving on, we thought we might get some answers at the daily U.N. briefing. There a spokeswoman explained that the conference room temperature was actually not at 77 degrees but at…80!  

Which forced us once again to ask the same question: So why’s it so cold in there?  

The answer: U.N. headquarters is a very old building, and rooms can experience drastically different temperatures. Even, it seems, when they’re set to 80, it feels 20 degrees cooler.  

“There is no special setup for the secretary-general’s office,” we were told.  

Apparently not.  

Controversy aside, if the experiment does not interfere with productivity, U.N. officials say energy-saving measures could take effect year-round. The savings: an estimated one million dollars.

And that’s a lot of hot air, either way you cut it.