This Table Sucks Up Heat to Lower Your AC Bills
Air conditioning is a modern wonder. It’s also an expensive luxury and a total drain on the environment. Most buildings address thermal control on a structure level by building in HVAC systems, but two designers from Paris think there might be a better way, or at least an alternative way.
“We wanted to see if it was possible to address climate and energy issues on a furniture scale,” says designer Jean-Sébastien Lagrange. The designer, along with architect and engineer Raphaël Ménard, developed the first piece in their Zero Energy Furniture line: a table that can store excess heat and release it when a room gets cold again.
At first glance, the Zero Energy table looks like an ordinary wood conference table, but hidden underneath the slab of oak is a sandwich of materials that turns the table into a thermal sponge of sorts. Between a layer of corrugated aluminum is a waxy phase-changing material that softens when the room reaches about 71 degrees Fahrenheit.
