This is an innovation that seems very creative but a bit far fetched in all practicality. It is still worth taking a look for the fact that it might be a very useful technology if worked upon further & even in its current stage of early development still seems tangible enough. This is the Hydro Wall developed by Virginia San Fratello, from the US & it is designed in a very unique way to keep buildings warm.
The technology is not very complicated. Hydro Wall uses a thermal mass that allows absorbing & storing water in it. The framework of the material has been designed using CNC technology. The basic material of the wall absorbs the liquid that is supplied to it & contains the liquid in its layers. During the day time, the heat from the sun is used to heat up the water inside & the water stores the heat in the material. During the night, as temperatures drop, the heat from the Hydro wall is released into the building & the temperature of the building that is covered by the Hydro Wall is warmer than the outside temperature.
A Virtual look from the inside:
While the technology sounds great as it might do away with all the energy consumption that is associated with a heating system inside buildings, there are many limitations that come forward too. The greatest asset of Hydro Wall is that it uses recycled water to store the heat in the material. The experimental proof of this was given by performing a case study on a fire station in Nevada & the water in the material can also be used by fire engines when needed.
Mechanism on the inside:
The material:
But once again, the greatest hindrance for this technology seems to be the fact that it works best only in areas where there is a vast gap between the day & night temperature. This might limit it to southern parts of USA, some Latin American nations & the UAE. But energy still saved in such a way is always wonderful. But I wonder how many would want to cover there whole building with some material? Would it not take away from architecture?
