ORNL Researchers Unveil Smart Walls Designed to Provide Cooling
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers used additive manufacturing to build a first-of-its-kind smart wall called EMPOWER. The wall, designed for a building’s interior, also functions as a cooling system to optimize energy use and lower overall cost.
The prototype wall was manufactured with a cable-driven, field-deployable concrete additive manufacturing system and embedded with a thermal storage and active insulation system. A chiller connected to the wall pumps cool water through pipes. That coolness is stored in the interior and then transferred throughout the room as needed.