As heat waves sweep the country, most of us are desperate to do anything for a little reprieve from the high temperatures.
Although cranking the air conditioning is potentially life-saving, it also increases energy use (and raises your electricity bill, too), making access to cool air a privilege not all can afford.
So, architects and engineers are looking back to ancient civilizations to cool buildings without the use of electricity or chemicals.
Researchers at Virginia Tech have developed a 3D-printed evaporative cooling system made of hollow clay columns that can cool the surrounding air by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
The columns are filled with water and sand, and when warm air passes through the porous clay exterior, water stored in the sand columns evaporates, which in turn, cools the air that passes through.
And now, the design has been formatted into a futuristic wall partition.
Although the concept seems sleek and innovative, it’s an iteration of what the researchers call “ancient cooling techniques.” Specifically, the team has used a method called “evaporative cooling” that has been harnessed for at least 4,500 years.
“We’re trying to get the best of those types of ancient techniques but put them in a modern context and see how we could optimize it further,” associate professor of architecture at VT, Stefan Al, told Dezeen.
Since the invention of electricity made way for mechanical air conditioning, these ancient cooling technologies have not gained popularity in the Western world. But in sustainable architecture circles, they’re making a comeback.
“Ancient Persia and Egypt used this. We saw that the ancient Chinese used this technology,” Ilhan Farahi, an undergraduate student and member of the Evaporative Cooling Partitions Project, told Virginia Tech Magazine.
“Having this come back is kind of enchanting because it’s something people developed thousands of years ago, but using it now could lower carbon dioxide emissions.”
Plus, as Al said, it’s free cooling. All that’s needed is to put water through the structure.
In addition to a room partition design, the columns also have potential to be formatted into different interior objects, like a “cooling chair,” or a hollow clay block that could function as both a building material and a cooling apparatus.
“The program uses code that translates into 3D, so that’s how we are able to get more complicated shapes with more complex surface textures that contribute further to the evaporative cooling processes,” Brook Kennedy, associate professor in VT’s School of Design, told the university’s magazine.
So far, the research team has printed three different prototypes, all in cylindrical shapes, then measured their thermal performance using infrared imaging. While they were pleased to see various cooling effects, to fully test the system’s performance, they will need to build an entire room.
The researchers also hope they can garner some more external funding and support to develop their prototype to scale.
“We’ve gotten to a point in time and history where we are realizing the impacts human beings are having on the planet, and we’re really using all the tools available to try to see how to address certain critical global problems, whether that’s rising temperatures, questions of pollution, sustainability, or energy use and carbon emissions,” Kennedy added to the magazine.
“We’re researching forgotten technologies that have been effective years in the past before we had so much energy to use, and we’re asking, ‘Can we build using these technologies again for everybody’s benefit?’”
In future research, the team hopes to continue testing how the system would best work around people.
According to Al, the cooling effect is most noticeable when the system is paired with a fan or situated near a source of strong natural airflow. Because the evaporative cooling partition is a localized structure, it is not as effective as conventional air conditioning.
Still, Al told Dezeen, the system is still useful and could be integrated into thoughtful design, such as placing it near a seating area to create a cooler spot within a larger room.
Plus, it has one other benefit: its beauty.
“In contrast to [air conditioning], which is always hidden,” Al told Dezeen, “this could be beautiful, and could be seen, and raise people's understanding and appreciation of these old techniques that are much more sustainable in making us feel comfortable.”
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Header image courtesy of Virginia Tech
