ShareCool brick, a clue for natural refrigeration in desert environments.
Virgina San Fratello and Ronald Rael have potentially found a way to cool indoor air temperatures in desert environments.
Easy access to air conditioning is not always a reality, yet Virgina San Fratello and Ronald Rael, the creative masterminds behind The Emerging Objects Corporation, have potentially found a way to cool indoor air temperatures in desert environments using traditional materials, and far less energy and resources. Inspired by the Muscatese Evaporative cooling window, they designed 3D printed porous ceramic bricks.
Set in mortar, each brick absorbs water like a sponge and is designed as a three dimensional lattice that allows air to pass through the wall. As air moves through the 3D printed brick, the water held in the micro-pores of the ceramic evaporates, bringing cool air into an interior environment. Through the principle of evaporative cooling, which also has the benefit of adding moisture back into the air, the cool brick makes it more comfortable to breathe. The bricks are modular and interlocking, and can be stacked together to make a screen. The 3D lattice creates a strong bond when set in mortar. The shape of the brick also creates a shaded surface on the wall to keep a large percentage of the wall’s surface cool and protected from the sun to improve the wall’s performance.
Set in mortar, each brick absorbs water like a sponge and is designed as a three dimensional lattice that allows air to pass through the wall. As air moves through the 3D printed brick, the water held in the micro-pores of the ceramic evaporates, bringing cool air into an interior environment. Through the principle of evaporative cooling, which also has the benefit of adding moisture back into the air, the cool brick makes it more comfortable to breathe. The bricks are modular and interlocking, and can be stacked together to make a screen. The 3D lattice creates a strong bond when set in mortar. The shape of the brick also creates a shaded surface on the wall to keep a large percentage of the wall’s surface cool and protected from the sun to improve the wall’s performance.