If These Walls Could Heat (and Cool)

Steven Van Dessel, assistant professor of architecture at Rensselaer, is combining home comfort with energy conservation. His patent-pending system, called the Active Building Envelope (ABE), incorporates solar-cell and thermoelectric technologies to turn the walls of your home into an “intelligent” heating and cooling system.

Imagine heat silently radiating from the walls of your home on a frosty night and cool air coming from the same seamless source on a scorching summer day. This, without ever having to touch a thermostat, check the pilot light in the furnace, or hear the constant droning of the AC. To boot, the integrated system would operate using an endless supply of cheap energy — the sun.

“Our approach is new. The ABE will transform the way we heat and cool our buildings, allowing us to become more energy efficient while improving the comfort of our indoor environment,” says Van Dessel.

As they stand now, walls, roof, and windows — known in architectural terms as the “building envelope” — don’t hold much promise for energy conservation. More than 50 percent of the energy used in a typical dwelling is for maintaining a comfortable temperature. The bulk of that power compensates for the energy that escapes through the building envelope.

“The ABE not only solves the heat dissipation problem at its source — the building envelope — but turns those problem areas into a chief asset,” Van Dessel adds.

ABE Technology
The ABE works like this: A photovoltaic (PV) system (better known as solar-cell panels) is integrated into the outside wall or roof where it collects and converts sunlight into electricity. The power is then delivered to a series of mini thermoelectric (TE) heat pumps. The TE devices, each typically about one square inch and 1/8th inch thick, are dispersed throughout the building envelope. Depending on the direction of TE system’s electric current, controlled by the automated flip of a switch, sunlight is converted to either make your dwelling warmer or cooler. An energy storage mechanism is also integrated, to store extra energy that is then used when little or no sunlight is available.