Corrugated facade patterns were shown to reduce surface temperature on structures by up to 3.1°C (5.6°F) in a new experiment from a team of researchers at Columbia University. Their research into a scalable FinWall model, first published this spring in Cell Reports Physical Science, provided insights into a less common radiative cooling (RC) solution for walls to complement more popular techniques, such as white roofs affecting areas of the building envelope that receive considerable less heat stress from the ground.
Furthermore, "building simulations indicate that a mid-rise apartment building equipped with FinWalls can save 24% (or 10%) annual energy versus the same building with high-emissivity walls (or low-emissivity walls) in the US," the paper states. The product allows for retractable fins containing alternatively emissive and reflective surfaces to be deployed in order to "seamlessly transition between the cooling mode and the heating mode by adjusting [their] orientation."
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From the study linked
Field tests
"Field tests were conducted to demonstrate the FinWall’s capability for all-season thermal regulation. The tests were carried out on May 23, 2023, in Queens, New York, USA (40°43′24.7″N, 73°51′10.8″W). Three FinWall samples and a high-E control were vertically mounted on a box facing south, and the box was covered with aluminum foil. Each sample was equipped with a thermocouple (Omega 5TC-TT-K-30-72) at its back surface, sealed with polystyrene foam (McMaster-Carr 93475K63) as thermal insulation, to measure its temperature variation. Additionally, one thermocouple was placed inside the box to measure the ambient air temperature, and another was positioned on the ground to measure the ground surface temperature. A pyranometer (Apogee SP-510) was vertically mounted to measure the solar irradiance onto the wall samples."
Somebody's roof in Forrest Hills hosted a science project for a year
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