India’s Ancient Stepwell Architecture Cools Modern Building

February 28, 2012 by kris de decker Filed Under: Air conditioning, Architecture, Cooling, Pools, Water

“At the height of summer, in the sweltering industrial suburbs of Jaipur, Rajasthan in north-west India, where temperatures can hit 45C Pearl Academy of Fashion remains 20 degrees cooler inside than out, by drawing on Rajasthan’s ancient architecture. While the exterior appears very much in keeping with the trends of contemporary design, at the base of the building is a vast pool of water — a cooling concept taken directly from the stepwell structures developed locally over 1,500 years ago to provide refuge from the desert heat.”

Read more: Ancient ‘air-conditioning’ cools building sustainably.

Solar Heating System with Water Battery

May 30, 2011 by kris de decker Filed Under: DIY, Heating appliances, Pools, Solar

Solar Heating System with Water Battery

Dutch inventor Kees van der Geer sends us this paper and wants to know what we think of it. Comments are open.

“Heating with a sun collector costs nothing and contaminates nothing. In this article I propose a solar heating system consisting of a large solar collector, suitable for the heating of a house and a heat store, capable to bridge a week of cloudy weather. Both are made from simple materials.”

“Maybe a practical solution to make a heat store is to buy a inflatable swimming pool of 17m3 and construct an insulating box around it. ”

Large area solar heating system (pdf), Kees van der Geer, 2011. (Artículo en Español).

Low-tech Nuclear Waste Storage

May 25, 2011 by kris de decker Filed Under: Pools

Spent nuclear fuel ponds “Even though they contain some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet, U.S. spent nuclear fuel pools are mostly contained in ordinary industrial structures designed to merely protect them against the elements. Some are made from materials commonly used to house big-box stores and car dealerships.”

Report: “Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools in the US – reducing the deadly risks of storage“.

Via Yale Environment 360.