Page 27 - Green Builder Sept-Oct 2020 Issue

use them. New research from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence sequester water for domestic use.
Berkeley National Laboratory has shown that widespread adoption Tempe, Arizona-based SOURCE Global produces a line of solar
of cool roofs can also lower overnight temperatures during hotter Hydropanels that not only provide renewable energy o€ the grid, but
evenings as well. also reportedly produce between ‘ to ’ liters of drinking water per
Cool roof materials will denitely benet from new applications panel, per day (relative to sunlight and the surrounding humidity, of
in nano-scale surface material developments. For example, a growing course—about a half-gallon to “.” gallons in conversion).
number of nanophotonic materials have been developed, allowing Essentially, Hydropanels use solar power to pull in large amounts
scientists to manipulate the way light encounters materials at the of air, then collect moisture from that air onto an absorbing material,
nano scale. with solar heat converting it into water [and then] into a ”—-liter
(˜.™ gallon) reservoir, where it is mineralized and kept clean using
ozonation. Incredibly, reservoirs can also be run directly to internal
faucets.
Engineers with SOURCE have more recently unveiled an
additional series of system sensors to ne-tune owners’ monitoring
of the water reservoir itself. Sensors will allow customers to keep
tabs on the water quality in real time and monitor daily reports via
the SOURCE app.
Standardized assessment protocols also now exist for gauging the
emissions standards for various materials throughout construction.
This is especially encouraging because of how complicated it must
be. Any one construction project may contain literally thousands
of di€erent materials, all with varying carbon emission impacts.
Immense tracking applications for materials worldwide have
been entered into an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
increasingly utilized by more construction companies to chart carbon
cost for di€erent materials. Anything from insulation and ceiling tiles
to metal framing and insulation materials are included.
New tools like EC” (Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator)
use Microsoft-driven analysis of thousands of EDP items to calculate
carbon impacts more quickly. We will explore the concept of
“regenerative architecture” as one strategy among many others to
sequester more CO‘ over the coming years, but for now, yet another
avenue exists primarily for cutting emissions while still producing
rst-class buildings. GB
Window dressing. Transparent nanostructured aerogels can reduce heat This story was excerpted from Our Livable World: Creating the Clean
transfer beyond walls and through the roof. When applied to windows, these Earth of Tomorrow by Marc Schaus. Content has been edited for
aerogels allow more sunlight to enter but not exit, making it ideal for heating length and is being reprinted by permission of the author and the
homes. CREDIT: STUART DARSCH¤MIT
publisher, Diversion Books.
One new development in materials sciences from Berkeley,
California-based Cypris Materials involves self-assembling re­ective Marc Schaus is a professional
coatings o€ering tailored optical properties for even more selective research specialist across the
wavelength re­ection. The company’s coatings enable more heat sciences for research ventures,
mitigation by re­ecting ultraviolet and near-infrared radiation like craft product manuals, and
the models above—but rather than merely applying to windows, policymakers. He is the author of
Cypris’ coatings could be also placed on walls and rooftops to re­ect Post Secular: Science, Humanism
more of the sun’s rays with a transparent, colorless coating. and the Future of Faith, and has
written articles that have appeared
EVER-VITAL, ALWAYS-PRESENT H2O in Areo Magazine, Free Inquiry
In terms of saving on resources in homes (simultaneously saving the Magazine, The Huƒngton Post,
city at large from shuttling them in), nothing may be more upending Patheos, and the academic journal
than the ability to procure one’s own water. And now, tech similar Antennae. He currently resides in
to the devices used by scientists to draw in moisture from ambient Ontario, Canada.
air and harness the molecular portions of water can also be used
by homeowners—in the form of solar panels able to draw in and

www.greenbuildermedia.com September/October 2020 GREEN BUILDER 25

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