Cutting Down Energy Costs With Electricity-Free Air Conditioning

Air conditioning is an expensive proposition. Approximately 15 percent of energy use from buildings is devoted to air conditioning, a Nov. 29 story from The Economist explained. However, the magazine said a new idea cultivated by Dr. Aaswath Rama of Stanford University could forever change the world of air conditioning.

Dr. Raman has invented a way to encourage buildings to dump their heat without the need for pumps and compressors. Instead, they simply radiate it into outer space.

The idea […] is both cunning and simple. Outer space is very cold (about 3°C above absolute zero) and very big, so it is the perfect heat sink. Earth radiates heat into it all the time. But this is compensated for by the heat the planet receives from the sun. To encourage one part of Earth’s surface (such as an individual building) to cool down, all you need do in principle is reflect the sunlight which falls on it back into space, while also encouraging as much radiative cooling from it as possible.

Read more about this method on The Economist’s website. As always, keep in tune with HPAC Engineering for the latest heating, cooling and industry innovation news.