I am completly opposed to Air-conditions propagandized as a solution to climate change. What is the wright approach to combating this state of temporary relief except from old-fashioned fans? Don’t get me wrong. They do the job for me. I am reffering to finding a solution for people more with health issues or large facilities that are in need of something more drastic.
If you can come up with an alternative way to cool the air indoors that’s less energy demanding and environmentally friendly that could be a revolutionary invention on a global scale
Not gonna debate A/Cs merits as a fix for climate change but the ability to chill and cool a place at will is one of the overall more important human innovations ever. Food storage and preservation as well as tons of medical/scientific research and development is dependent on refrigeration.
It’s also really gonna depend on where you live in the world to be able to rely on standard fans, which still rely on electricity and if the humidity gets too high for your sweat to evaporate may not even cool you down properly enough to prevent wet bulb heat deaths. Bangladesh for example will cook in the coming years without something to break the heat and muggy air.
Climate change means some places will get colder. Are you also opposed to heating? Or is only being hot acceptable self-flagellation?
the self flagellation is funny but on a serious note cold is easier to deal with analog, layers and blankets.
eta: by analog I mean without the use of electricity (patently not what analog means lol)
In 2021, the polar vortex caused sub zero temperatures in northern Mexico. It was -7 in Monterrey. You don’t deal with -7 with just layers and blankets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2021_North_American_cold_wave
i have dealt with sub zero in a sleeping bag in an Adirondack (building with 3 walls, basically outside)
I’ve been fascinated by this concept of passive radiative cooling, where you have some material that radiates heat to space in an infrared window where the atmosphere is transparent. Apparently, a sheet of such material can be a fair bit cooler than the ambient temperature without any consumption of energy? It would not necessarily be an alternative to air-conditioning, but it could potentially reduce the energy costs quite a bit, while lowering the heat island effect in urban areas.
There are some interesting applications where a radiative surface that is shielded from radiation coming back the other way can emit radiation to cool itself by a few degrees below ambient temperatures. There’s one paper from a few years ago that describes being able to cool to 5°C below ambient temperature even in direct sunlight with some exotic materials.
Interesting stuff.
Some ancient middle-eastern architecture (can’t remember the name) is a low-tech and permanent air-conditioning tower. We gotta go low tech. We also need trees everywhere, white buidlings and roofs, rain water collectors, etc etc.
Asian architecture too, it’s layered in a certain way so that the warm air can escape and the cool air can enter and doesnt have as many windows as the regular apartment
The alternative is architecture designed to keep a building cool.
Or modifying what you have already.
Take a south or west facing window with a balcony & railing in front. By installing planter boxes on the railings and growing black eyed susans / morning glory / any climbing flowers, letting them grow up bamboo poles space 4" apart, you can create a heat absorbing barrier. The plants block and use the energy that would have been absorbed by your house. Unlike shades/screens they won’t heat up and begin radiating heat themselves.
Female Hops are another great planting option. They cannot reproduce without a male plant, and every year they will grow back stronger. Train them underneath your building eaves and they will reduce the amount of heat energy your house absorbs while producing aesthetically pleasing “cone” flowers.
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Also insulation. In Canada we need lots of insulation under our roofs for the winter. So while during the summer our black top roofs absorb a lot of heat, not as much of that heat is transferred to the indoor air as a roof with less insulation.
Its important to mention that this does require some maintenance and to be sure that the outside of the building is structurally sound (ie. gaps, rotted wood, crumbling morter,etc.)
Planting trees and bushes and plants around the property helps cool down the air around it too
Best I can do is clear cutting to build a neighborhood and then an HOA that won’t let you plant trees.
