[Greenbuilding] Air Conditioning for Phoenix

[Rob Tom]

Oy yoy yoy.

Air conditioners, swamp coolers, stone slingers, solenoid-operated  
watering hoses...

If one didn't know better, one could be excused for thinking that "GB  
List" stands for "Gizmo Boinking List".

But since this *is* the Green building list, perhaps LL-man recommends to  
his BIT (bother-in-law (sic))in Phoenix that he consider some envelope  
improvements first to lower the space cooling load before even thinking  
about this or that gizmo.

But going Green also often involves a shift in expectations too.

Perhaps one doesn't really need to expect steady interior temperatures of  
65 degrees F temperatures in the the middle of the day, in the middle of  
the summer, in the middle of the desert ... stereotype of the  
shivering-sweater-clad-in-the-middle-of-the-day-in-the-middle-of-summer-Phoenician-senior-citizen-with-central-A/C  
notwithstanding.

Rather than an AC unit or a mechanical swamp cooler, perhaps BIT thinks  
about installing a rainwater harvesting system and a Green roof.

There is reliable data (Google "Green Roofs NRC Liu" and it should  
materialise) that shows even as little as a 150mm thickness of lightweight  
growing medium , even in the absence of any vegetation can reduce the  
space-cooling energy load by 75% and up to about 95% reduction if  
vegetation is in place. (Note that the above numbers are for Ottawa,  
Canada, not Phoenix USA but still, good enough for this discussion).

That'd be a good start I think.

Another passive strategy that might be worth considering might be a  
cooling tower that takes advantage of the stack effect to induce air  
movement past the bodies to provide the sensation of cooling without  
having to chill a whole houseful of air.

Perhaps the cooling tower structure may already exist in the form of a  
fireplace chimney and just needs some minor modifications ?


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Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
<A r c h i L o g i c   at  c h a f f y a h o o   dot   c a >
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