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the air vents in these offices don't do the job. Apparently they're designed to push the heat out at the ceiling horizontally. That's great, except this concept sends the cold air cascading down the window, meaning it's getting burnt up by the sun.

I'm a bit confused by this bit. Do you mean the air vents are pushing hot air out? Or are they pushing cold air out, but just at such an odd angle that they're ineffective? If it's the latter, go down to your local art-supply store, and get a chunk of foam board that you can hang from the ceiling, near the vent, to act as a baffle, directing the air flow where it can do some good. There are a number of vents here that have similar getups, though it's to deflect the AC from blowing cold air directly down someone's neck.