via Dezeen:
British startup Water-Filled Glass has developed panes of glass filled with water that use sunlight to power a "crazy" energy-saving heating and cooling system.
[…]
Its windows contain a thin layer of water between glass panes, which absorbs heat from sunlight or other radiation, such as heat leaving a room.
The warmed water is then pumped through sealed pipes at low pressure to colder areas of the building, through an underfloor system or into thermal storage.
By absorbing thermal energy in this way the water-filled glass also limits how much solar heat gain enters the building through windows, reducing the need for air-conditioning in hot climates.
Here's another example of how it works, directly from the company. First, a standard glass window:
Compared to a Water-Filled-Glass window in the summertime:
And in the winter:
This is the kind of sci-fi sounding architecture I can get behind.
Water-filled windows use sunlight to heat and cool buildings [Nat Barker / Dezeen]
