New mat cools buildings by letting their roofs sweat
« Back to Article
A PNIPAM mat, shown on the right, keeps a model house cooler than a mat made from conventional polymer, shown on the left (Photo: Rotzetter ACC / Advanced Materials)
The research was carried out to scale on small model railway houses (Photo: Rotzetter ACC / Advanced Materials)
The mats are manufactured from a special polymer known as PNIPAM (Photo: Rotzetter ACC / Advanced Materials)
Article Summary
We're used to the thought of humans sweating to cool down, but what about buildings? Researchers at ETH Zurich have applied the biological cooling mechanism to the task of keeping a building cool, and in the process have hit upon a novel and inexpensive method of cooling houses which could prove useful for homes in both developed and emerging nations.
« Back to New mat cools buildings by letting their roofs sweat
Other Images from this Gallery
Related Articles
-
Internet could lower its cooling bills by using hot water
16th April, 2010
-
Solar panels not just cool for the environment but cool for buildings as well
19th July, 2011
-
Computer modeling indicates white roofs may be a cool idea
28th January, 2010
-
IBM unveils supercomputer cooled by hot water
10th July, 2010
-
New heat-regulating building material could cut building heating and cooling costs
3rd August, 2011
-
3D-printed sand Microclimates to cool public places
1st December, 2010
