Innovative “self-cooling” walls address rising temperatures
This year, Houstonians witnessed their city reach a searing 109 degrees in late August, tying a historic temperature record. Temperatures rose beyond 100 degrees for the duration of the previous month, underscoring the critical need for creative heat-resistance measures. The problem is keeping Read More...
Seven tips for cooling your home without AC
Many of us can already feel the heated start of Summer, along with the urge to crank up the air-conditioning. While heatstroke is a serious health concern, a whole city blasting cool air into their homes presents a threat to the power grid. Some places like Texas are already experiencing Read More...
Novel technology cools air far more efficiently than air conditioners
With rising temperatures as a result of climate change, the demand for air conditioners is expected to rise at unprecedented rates, which, in turn, will only further contribute to climate change due to the large amount of energy they require. That, however, is not their only problem. In a time of Read More...
Smart windows change colors when its hot outside to cool your home
Figuring out ways to slash our over-reliance on air conditioners can go a long way in reducing the energy costs and emissions that usually go hand in hand with using these cooling machines. One way to do this is to tap into the key role that windows play when it comes to saving energy. Recently, Read More...
Air conditioners could become more sustainable thanks to novel refrigerant
Last year, Americans used a mind-boggling 377 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to stay cool. In layman's terms, that’s about 9 percent of the nation’s total electricity use, spent primarily on air conditioners. Enter Bluon, a startup that makes a new refrigerant for air conditioners, Read More...
The Flair: this redesigned fan uses up to 85% less energy than conventional fans
AC systems and fans use up to 22 percent of the world’s electricity. This generates as many CO2 emissions as all the world’s cars. Strangely enough, however, the design of the fan hasn’t changed in 100 years. That’s why Jay Harman’s design firm, PAX Scientific, has designed a new, Read More...
How to keep your home cool without using air conditioning
We all want a cool home when the hot summer months arrive, but using the air-conditioning wastes a lot of energy. Not to mention it can cost a fortune to keep the air-conditioning on. To save yourself some money and the planet, here are a few ways to keep your home chill without flipping on the Read More...
This high-tech wood reflects sunrays and keeps homes cool
Conventional construction materials used for building our homes are most often inefficient. Cooling our houses during the warm season, for instance, usually requires a staggering amount of energy and associated carbon emissions. In an attempt to find a solution to this, scientists at the University Read More...
In the future, air conditioners could capture carbon rather than creating it
The air-conditioner has become somewhat of a poster child for climate change, cooling your home while eating lots of energy and spewing heat and emissions into the atmosphere. But what if we could weaponize air conditioning units to help pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere instead? According Read More...
Researchers invent air-conditioners that can also generate electricity
Scientists at Stanford University have managed to engineer an air-conditioner which generates power at the same time. Air conditioners and climate change interact in a vicious cycle: as the planet warms, demand for air conditioning increases, thereby driving emissions ever higher. The new device Read More...