Comment by twblalock | Hacker News Reader

Comment by twblalock | Hacker News Reader

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> Instead of being close minded and think all things ancient/eastern are bad and useless (or all good either) why not incorporate the best of all ideas and make cooling efficient and cheaper .

That just doesn't work. Modern climate control technology is fundamentally based on having homes that are insulated and sealed off from outside airflow. Lots and lots of effort has gone into that, and people spend a lot of time and money retrofitting older homes to achieve it. You can't combine that sort of stuff with lattice windows and free air transfer from outside.

Also, don't accuse people of being close-minded just because they know newer stuff is better than older stuff. That is definitely the case for climate control, and for home building in general. Don't buy into the trope of "ancient eastern wisdom" -- people who live in Asia certainly don't fall for that nonsense, and they build modern homes with air conditioning just like everyone else because it's better.

Shell within shell is perfectly valid design for buildings and is found in nature as well. I am not an architect, am sure there are better solutions out there beyond what I know.

Popularity is not a good measure of something is better.

There are many aspects of ventilation that are actively studied still , it by no means a solved problem, just look at heating in London Underground for real world modern problem .

Closed areas and Smooth surfaces with leas surface area are terrible for radiation and air cooling . Buildings are not static objects they are heat sources as well.

Insulation and ventilation are different concurrent problems , some places need both equally , some need a lot of insulation and less of cooling and some need other way around . There is no one universal solution.

You are right I shouldn’t have called it closed minded . I gave it a charitable reading , reading back once more it is definitely racist not just closed minded , the parent post also called it culturally inferior not just technically so.

Obviously a modern system is going to have better control and range over temperature, but it does come at a cost. According to the link from datameta the older techniques do have a measurable effect.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210810-the-ancient-pers...

"Scientists have recorded a temperature difference of 16C (29F) between the outside and inside of the visitor centre, despite the many bodies regularly passing through."

I imagine the best systems are the ones that combine both ideas. Such as Apple Park:

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/apples-new-campus-...

"A Building That Breathes: Between each floor of the building is a canopy that juts out, mainly to protect employees from the intense California sun. Tucked within each canopy is a ventilation system that funnels air in and out of the building. Apparently Jobs, who was not a fan of air conditioning, wanted his employees to feel any passing breeze as if they were sitting outside. Through a variety of sensors, the building can maintain a temperature of 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, all by using an intake and release of natural air."

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