I came across this video document on the Science Friday web site that I had to make note of. Michael Sykes, a builder from North Carolina, has been experiementing with a method to warm and cool houses merely with the wood used to build it. The wood is treated with a natural resin and seed crystal to make the resin change phase from solid to liquid at around 70 degrees F. The change allows the resin to absorb and release energy throughout the day, which helps maintain a temperature equilibrium inside the house.
Michael Sykes, a builder from
North Carolina, has created a home that can heat and cool itself using
only solar energy. The principle at work is "phase change." Sykes has
engineered the resin in the wood he builds with to change phase at 70
degrees F. The resin goes from liquid to solid and back to liquid again
at room temperature. The phase change allows the walls to soak up and
trap vast amounts of heat during the day--cooling the room. At night,
the wood releases the heat and warms the home. In this video, Ira talks
with Sykes about how it works. Sykes won first prize for his Enertia
Building System at the 2007 Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge,
sponsored by The History Channel and the National Inventors Hall of
Fame Foundation.
Credits: Produced by Flora Lichtman, Images courtesy of Enertia.com
I came across this video document on the Science Friday web site that I had to make note of. Michael Sykes, a builder from North Carolina, has been experiementing with a method to warm and cool houses merely with the wood used to build it. The wood is treated with a natural resin and seed crystal to make the resin change phase from solid to liquid at around 70 degrees F. The change allows the resin to absorb and release energy throughout the day, which helps maintain a temperature equilibrium inside the house.
