CCN profiles some of the new technologies that have been dubbed the "future of air conditioning". While they are not likely to revolutionise the HVACR sector anytime soon, they create some exciting possibilities for the future.
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) the future of air conditioning will be a very personalised experience that involves walking around in our veryown personal cloud of cool.
That's right MIT has developed a device, that is more efficient at keeping us cool than anything else on the market.
Produced for hot and dry environments, the Cloud Cast debuted in Dubai earlier this year. MIT says air conditioners are inefficient because they cool an entire room, it's a bit like driving one person around in a bus.
But Cloud Cast works through a collection of motion sensors and roof-based aluminium rods. The sensors determine where you are at any moment, and in which direction you are moving, before covering you in a fine mist to cool you down.
The amount of water used is minimal, but of course they are less likely to be effective in tropical, humid environments. But in warm, dry places – such as Dubai – the personal cloud could be something special.
MIT has a history of creating and developing personal heating and cooling devices. Last year MIT developed a wrist-based, wearable personal cooling device which was around the same size as the Apple Watch.
While all the devices are still in the development stage, they could represent a way of making heating and cooling much better for the environment and much cheaper to use.
Effectively it is like a cloud that follows you, sprinkling a small amount of rain on you wherever you go.
This device relies on 3D printing technology. Emerging Objectives has come up with a solution which may be able to greatly reduce the use of air conditioning systems in hot dry climates. Known as the “Cool Brick” it has the ability to cool off an entire room simply by using water.
In reality the Cool Brick is not a new invention, it is based on evaporative cooling - the concept that water will evaporate if air with a lower dew point passes by.
The dew point of the air is the temperature in which water vapour in that air condenses, forming a liquid. When the air temperature drops below the dew point, water droplets will begin leaving the air (i.e. rain).
Designed by Virginia San Fratello and Ronald Rael, the cool brick can be used to create entire walls which can become interior walls of a home. Because the air in desert environments is so hot and dry, the cool brick works. Made up with a 3D printed ceramic lattice, it can be filled with water in a similar way a sponge can.
Then when hot, dry air passes through, the air absorbs the water through evaporation, and it becomes cool, moist air.
The bricks can be set into mortar to create walls of virtually any size. When these modular, interlocking bricks are stacked together, they create a large screen.
A decorative looking cool brick wall could be constructed in a home, to cool that home off while also adding much needed moisture to the air.