Zigzag architecture: Scientists find energy-free cooling solution

If you want to maintain a cooler temperature at home, you can successfully use air conditioning. However, there are ways to cool the air that does not require additional energy. Scientists from the United States are testing an interesting architectural project.

Researchers from Columbia University in New York highlight that zigzag-shaped architectural designs can effectively limit the amount of heat absorbed by buildings, which in turn helps in cooling them, as reported by The Guardian. According to their findings, "folded" walls can reduce the temperature by up to 3°C compared to flat walls.

Buildings account for about 40% of the world's energy consumption and generate 36% of carbon dioxide emissions. Cooling these structures, mainly through air conditioning, consumes about 20% of the energy used—and this share increases with climate warming.

American engineers and physicists have developed a passive cooling solution for buildings that does not require additional energy. They created a prototype of walls with protrusions running parallel to the ground, resembling a zigzag when viewed from the side.

This design uses radiative cooling, reflecting sunlight and emitting long-wave infrared radiation into space. Examples include painting roofs white to reflect sunlight. This method is particularly effective on horizontal surfaces, but vertical walls can additionally absorb heat from the ground.

In the summer in New Jersey, scientists conducted experiments by building one-metre models of zigzag and flat constructions. The results of their research, published in August in the scientific journal Nexus (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynexs.2024.100028), showed that the irregular surface was, on average, 2°C cooler over a day compared to flat walls, and during the hours of 13:00-14:00 GMT, when sunlight is strongest, this difference was 3°C.

Zigzag cooling walls could be used in buildings in hot climate zones, although their use increases the need for heating in winter. Scientists have also developed the concept of movable surfaces resembling fins on hinges that can be raised in winter to increase heat absorption and lowered in summer to reduce the amount of heat absorbed.

It is estimated that 2050 greenhouse gas emissions related to cooling buildings, including air conditioning, could more than triple.