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Here at Richmond’s Air, we like to keep you up to speed with the latest advancements in air conditioning. In the past, we’ve posted about several exciting HVAC innovations, including sending a building’s heat off into space and an air conditioner made more efficient by sidestepping the traditional condenser unit.
Well, here’s yet another exciting AC innovation: 3D cooling bricks. These Cool Bricks, developed by make-tank Emerging Objects, uses the concept of passive evaporative cooling to provide a more efficient way to cool homes.
Here’s the basic idea:
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- A builder uses a 3D printer to make a cooling brick. These bricks, which are made of ceramic, look somewhat like a honeycomb.
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- A builder could then connect many of these blocks to make an interior wall of a building.
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- Once in place, the bricks are moistened with water; their ceramic nature and honeycomb shape make them act like a sponge, able to absorb water.
- As hot, dry air in the surrounding environment passes through the honeycomb, it picks up the cooler, more humid air and distributes it in throughout the home.
Of course, you might have caught on that the surrounding environment needs to be fairly hot and dry to see the best effects from the Cool Brick. The brick would likely work great in desert environments where residents struggle to keep their homes both cool and humid. Since air conditioners, by design, dehumidify the air while they cool it, some desert residents have to run a humidifier along with their AC.
If you take a trip over to West Texas or Arizona in the future, perhaps one day you’ll witness this innovative idea in use. But needless to say, you’ll never see a Cool Brick in Houston, where the summers are already sticky and humid enough. For us, the good ol’ air conditioner is still an extraordinary and wonderful piece of technology.
Contact one of our experienced HVAC technicians at Richmond’s Air today if your AC system is in need of an upgrade, maintenance or repairs.
