New Type of Solar Structure Cools Buildings in Full Sunlight

[IrishAyes]

19. I'm impressed

Not only by what you describe but also another ancient desert method of cooling: the clay pots buried in a pit which has been well covered.

One of the smartest houses I ever read about in Architectural Digest was a place in the AZ desert, somewhere around Phoenix if memory serves. The builder had run long underground pipes radiating in all directions, and they ended with a covered u-turn popup just above ground. At the middle of the hub, in the central hall, the cooled air got sucked up a tall chimney and carried any heat in the house up with it by natural air flow. According to the article, the homeowner said the house kept itself at a maximum of 78 degrees even in the worst of summer with no mechanical aid required. He had also backed the house up against a rock cliff which absorbed heat in the day; then when the curtains were opened on cold nights, the radiated heat warmed the house.

That's how I'd build if money were no problem. Since it is, I might someday sell my beloved Vic and just build myself a little one-story straw bale house. (haha - I could paint it pink and attach a fake curly stovepipe to the outside for a 'tail', then wait to see if anyone got the joke; which they wouldn't around here.) Set up enough solar panels and I might even succeed in going off grid entirely. I don't care for modern design much, unless it's extremely futuristic. But I'm absolutely mad about modern technology.