As the planet gets hotter, the need for cool living environments is becoming more urgent. But air conditioning is not always recommended for use since units produce massive greenhouse gases and use lots of energy. Now, researchers have found in a new study an inexpensive, sustainable choice to replace mechanical cooling with refrigerants (制冷剂) in hot and dry climates, and a way to mitigate the dangers of heat waves during electricity blackouts.
The researchers set out to answer how to achieve a new benchmark (基准) for passive cooling inside naturally conditioned buildings in hot climates such as Southern California. They examined the use of roof materials that radiate (辐射) heat into the cold universe, even under direct sunlight, and how to connect them with temperature-driven air exchanges (that is, air can enter buildings and circulate freely). These cool radiator materials and coatings are often used to stop roofs overheating. Researchers have also used them to improve heat rejection from coolers. But there is untapped potential for mixing them with architectural design more fully, so they can not only reject indoor heat in a passive way, but also drive regular and healthy air changes.
“We found we could keep air temperatures several degrees below the ordinary temperature, and several degrees more below the reference ‘gold standard’ for passive cooling,” said Remy Fortin, lead author and PhD candidate at the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture. “We did this without abandoning a healthy airing.” This was never a piece of cake, considering air exchanges are a source of heat when the aim is to keep a room cooler than the outside.
The researchers hope the findings will be used to positively impact communities suffering from dangerous climate heating and heat waves. “We hope that materials scientists, architects, and engineers will be interested in these results, and that our work will inspire more thorough thinking about how to connect breakthroughs in radiative cooling materials with simple but effective architectural solutions,” said Salmaan Craig, main investigator for the project and assistant professor at the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “mitigate” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Monitor. | B．Relieve. | C．Control. | D．Predict. |
| A．The effects of airing. | B．The findings of the study. |
| C．The process of the research. | D．The function of cool radiators. |
| A．Guaranteeing the room a good airing. | B．Reaching the reference gold standard. |
| C．Keeping the house cool without power. | D．Combining passive cooling with air exchange. |
| A．Raise public awareness of cooling materials. |
| B．Appeal for stricter limits on greenhouse gases. |
| C．Improve humans’ living environments worldwide. |
| D．Strengthen materials science’s use in architecture. |
