The Rio de Janeiro Museum draws water from a nearby bay for cooling. Similarly, but on a larger scale, there is a cooling system in the heart of downtown Toronto. Use cold lake water Absorbs heat from city buildings. A Bangladesh country hospital Use the courtyard and canals to create a cooling microclimate. Singapore architectThe air-conditioned center of Southeast Asia, fishing buildings as the wind flows through the blocks of the city, and using vertical gardens to cool luxury hotels and office buildings.
And then there is the paint. Researchers are competing Develop White paint It reflects almost all sunlight.What is still in use Absorbs about 15 percent of sunlight And the heat that accompanies it.
Efforts to cool the city’s neighborhood are not always immediately popular. In Paris, as his colleague Constant Mehue wrote, the plan to cool the area around the Eiffel Tower faces fierce opposition as it means killing trees.
More than ever, energy-saving innovation is needed. While Toronto’s cooling system saves enough power to power 25,000 towns throughout the year, the Rio Museum’s cooling system consumes 50% less energy than traditional cooling systems.In fact, the recent United Nations report Global collaborative efforts to make cooling more sustainable and efficient are estimated to avoid eight years of global emissions over more than 40 years, based on 2018 levels.
Improve the air conditioner
Rocky Mountain Institute, a research group with an office based in Colorado Produces more energy Do more than it consumes Competition to promote innovation Cooling. Two companies, Daikin and Gree, who won last year, developed air conditioners with much less energy.
Why not all companies do so? Iain Campbell, a cooling expert at Rocky Mountain Institute, explained that electrical standards do not yet require it. In addition, it is prepaid and more expensive. According to Campbell, the prototypes developed by both companies were two to three times more expensive. “But for more than a decade, using these machines costs half as much,” he added. They will simply use less electricity.