For several years here in North Texas we had a drought, and last summer was the hottest sustained one I remember in years. I have two dogs and made sure that I kept an area in the back watered (mornings and evenings, never in the heat of the day, it will cook the grass as well as evaporate most of it away) so they could cool off. In the evenings they would get on that lawn and happily roll in the cool grass. The pit bull loves the water and she has a child's wading pool that I refill every couple of days and drag from one shady spot to another (and this way my trees and large shrubs get a good watering every couple of weeks). The blue heeler won't go near the water except for a drink, but she's good at staying well back in the shade (and they have a lot of shade). Water around the foundation to keep the house from cracking is a must (haven't had to do it this year--like my neighbor Wesley says, we're building a raft for Just In Case.)

I put ceiling fans in almost every room in the house, and the kids are supposed to use task lighting so we don't have the gain from lots of light bulbs. I try not to use the A/C too much, usually keeping the temperature around 78 to 80. I actually have it set cooler right now so the house doesn't get mildewy from all of the rain. Today is the first day we didn't have a huge downpour in a couple of weeks (after a very wet spring). It only drizzled early in the day.

I have trees in the yard that will eventually shade the house (I moved in five years ago; it was rental property for 15 years before that and no meaningful landscaping was done in all of that time). I didn't plant them close to the house, but at 10-20 feet distant they will still manage to provide good shade when they get bigger. I planted trees like that at my first house in town (the one my ex is in) and he's getting the full effect of trees planted 17 years ago. Closest to the house they're deciduous (so they'll provide shade east and west in the warm months and let the sun through during the cold). Further out they are pine for year-round noise abatement and privacy.

In my attic last year I had a layer of "Lo-MITT II" sprayed in, one of several sorts of solar barriers available today. There are also aluminum barriers that lay down on top of the insulation in the attic (that system has some problems, according to some research I did, but you'd want to check on what is available in your area). My painted attic roof decking is supposed to reflect back 75% of the heat that hits the roof. If you put up the coated decking when you install the roof some of those barriers reflect back 90%. When my neighbors were complaining about electric bills double the amount the year before, mine stayed the same. Still plenty high, but it was at least kind of manageable. The paint was applied by an insulation company and for my 2500 square foot house it cost about $1500. Hopefully it will pay for itself in about three years. At the rate energy costs are rising, it may take less time than that.

Hope this helps.

SRS