ARCHITECTURAL HEAT AND MOISTURE EXCHANGE

摘要

An architectural heat and moisture exchanger. The exchanger defines an interior channel which is divided into a plurality of sub-channels by a membrane configured to allow passage of water vapor and to prevent substantial passage of air. In some embodiments, the exchanger includes an opaque housing configured to form a portion of a building enclosure, such as an exterior wall, an interior wall, a roof, a floor, or a foundation.

主权项

1. An apparatus for enabling heat and moisture exchange within a building, comprising:
an exchanger housing including an exterior wall which is substantially transparent to radiation within a spectrum, the housing defining an interior channel configured to be disposed within a building, to receive an incoming air stream from an environment outside the building, to pass the incoming air stream into an environment inside the building, to receive an outgoing air stream from the environment inside the building, and to exhaust the outgoing air stream to the environment outside the building; a membrane, permeable to water vapor and substantially impermeable to constituent gases of air, disposed within the housing and dividing the interior channel into a first sub-channel through which the incoming air stream may pass and a second sub-channel through which the outgoing air stream may simultaneously pass; and at least one radiation absorbing element disposed within one of the sub-channels and configured to absorb radiation passing through the exterior wall of the exchanger and to transfer heat by convection to the air stream passing through the sub-channel within which the radiation absorbing element is disposed.