|
|
Article: Staying cool by getting plastered.(News)
- Article from:
- The Engineer
- Article date:
- August 8, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Centaur Communications Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
A PARAFFIN-BASED wall coating material will prevent heat build-up in modern homes and offices, making them more pleasant places in which to live and work, researchers said this week.
The material, developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) with the help of chemicals firm BASF, consists of micro-balls of paraffin distributed within wall plaster.
The material is designed to improve temperature control in modern buildings that have thin walls made of lightweight materials. Thin walls do not absorb much thermal energy, so rooms heat up rapidly in summer. The ISE material does not insulate the walls, but instead allows heat to be ...