A Naturally Air-Conditioned Building

A new system for year-round, natural air conditioning has been evaluated throughout more than a year of operation in a completely instrumented prototype building in Phoenix, Ariz. Construction and operation of the movable insulation and roof ponds are described here, and thermal effects are discussed. Solar energy is free, but controls and auxiliary heating systems for sunless days have made the cost of using it discouragingly high. The project described here originated in India, when the first author endeavoured to improve the comfort of the millions of families with no electricity and hardly enough fuel to cook their meagre supplies of food. Data obtained here showed that solar radiation and evaporation for 6in of water provided heating, cooling and thermal storage adequate for year-round air conditioning.