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Shinsulator
A shading insulator, or shinsulator, is used to cover a thermal mass (e.g. roof pond) and insulate the thermal mass as needed, either by re-radiating escaping heat back down towards the thermal mass, or by reflecting solar heat off the panel, reducing heat gathering by the thermal mass. In the summer, a roof pond system cools the building during the day using a shading insulator, or "shinsulator" to reflect solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ... away from the roof pond and minimize the heat gathering that occurs. At night, the shinsulator can be retracted to allow the roof pond to release stored energy into the environment. Throughout the winter, the system can be used to heat the building by absorbing solar energy during the day with the shinsulator retract ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermal Mass
In building design, thermal mass is a property of the matter of a building that requires a flow of heat in order for it to change temperature. Not all writers agree on what physical property of matter "thermal mass" describes. Most writers use it as a synonym for heat capacity, the ability of a body to store thermal energy. It is typically referred to by the symbol ''C''th, and its SI unit is J/K or J/°C (which are equivalent). However: * Christoph Reinhart at MIT describes thermal mass as its volume times its volumetric heat capacity. * Randa Ghattas, Franz-Joseph Ulm and Alison Ledwith, also at MIT, write that "It hermal massis dependent on the relationship between the specific heat capacity, density, thickness and conductivity of a material" although they don't provide a unit, describing materials only as "low" or "high" thermal mass. * Chris Reardon equates thermal mass with volumetric heat capacity . The lack of a consistent definition of what property of matter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermal Insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e., the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with specially engineered methods or processes, as well as with suitable object shapes and materials. Heat flow is an inevitable consequence of contact between objects of different temperature. Thermal insulation provides a region of insulation in which thermal conduction is reduced, creating a thermal break or thermal barrier, or thermal radiation is reflected rather than absorbed by the lower-temperature body. The insulating capability of a material is measured as the inverse of thermal conductivity, thermal conductivity (k). Low thermal conductivity is equivalent to high insulating capability (R-value (insulation), resistance value). In thermal engineering, other important properties of insulating materials are product density, density (ρ) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solar Energy
Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is an essential source of renewable energy, and its technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power, and solar water heating to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include designing a building for better daylighting (architecture), daylighting, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing properties, and organizing spaces that ventilation (architecture), naturally circulate air. In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environment (biophysical)
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all biotic and abiotic things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the ''natural environment'' can be distinguished as components: * Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, plateaus, mountains, the atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries and their nature. * Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge and magnetism, not originating from civilized human actions. In contrast to the natural environment is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
