Open-air, air conditioned residential or recreational facility

Abstract

An open-air, air-conditioned residential or recreational facility in a climatically hot environment, said facility comprising: (i) a physical boundary surrounding the area of said facility and elevating to a predetermined height above the ground surface of said facility, wherein said boundary is adapted for reducing the lateral exchange of air between the area inside said boundary and the environment outside of said boundary; and (ii) an electrically-powered cooling system for cooling the ground of said area and the air near the ground surface of said area.

1 . An open-air, air-conditioned residential or recreational facility in a climatically hot environment, said facility comprising: 
 (i) a physical boundary surrounding the area of said facility and elevating to a predetermined height above the ground surface of said facility, wherein said boundary is adapted for reducing the lateral exchange of air between the inside of said boundary and the environment outside of said boundary; and    (ii) an electrically-powered cooling system for cooling the ground of said area and/or the air near the ground surface of said area.    
   
   
       2 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said physical boundary surrounds said area without leaving an opening in said physical boundary that would allow significant loss of cooled air from said area to the outside of said area.  
   
   
       3 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said boundary surrounds said area completely and prevents lateral exchange of air near the ground surface of said facility.  
   
   
       4 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said cooling system comprises an air-conditioning refrigerating unit.  
   
   
       5 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said cooling system comprises a refrigerating unit and a coolant fluid, said refrigerating unit being capable of cooling said coolant fluid.  
   
   
       6 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said cooling system is powered by a solar power plant.  
   
   
       7 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said physical boundary is or comprises a wall of a height of at least 2 m.  
   
   
       8 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said physical boundary is or comprises a wall of a height of at least 3 m.  
   
   
       9 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said physical boundary is or comprises a wall of a height of at least 4 m.  
   
   
       10 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said physical boundary is made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of: soil, concrete, brickwork, wood, glass, metal, plastic, and a woven or non-woven fabric tentered between masts.  
   
   
       11 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein the size of said area, the height of said boundary, and said cooling system are mutually adjusted such that the air temperature near the surface of said area is at least 2° C. lower than the temperature in the environment during day time as measured in the shadow.  
   
   
       12 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein the size of said area, the height of said boundary, and said cooling system are mutually adjusted such that the air temperature near the surface of said area is at least 5° C. lower than the temperature in the environment during day time as measured in the shadow.  
   
   
       13 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein the size of said area, the height of said boundary, and said cooling system are mutually adjusted such that the air temperature near the surface of said area is at least 7° C. lower than the temperature in the environment during day time as measured in the shadow.  
   
   
       14 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein said facility comprises a dark or black area on the outside of said facility at said physical boundary, said dark or black area being capable of absorbing sun light for heating up the air above said dark or black area and for producing a flow of warm air ascending outside said boundary, said flow of ascending warm air forming a cushion of flowing warm air at the top end of said boundary.  
   
   
       15 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein the area of said facility inside said boundary has a size of at least 500 m 2 .  
   
   
       16 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein the area of said facility inside said boundary has a size of at least 2000 m 2 .  
   
   
       17 . The facility according to  claim 1 , wherein the area of said facility inside said boundary has a size of at least 10,000 m 2 .  
   
   
       18 . An open-air, air-conditioned residential or recreational facility in a climatically hot environment, said facility comprising: 
 (i) a physical boundary surrounding the area of said facility and elevating to a predetermined height above the ground surface of said facility, wherein said boundary is adapted for reducing the lateral exchange of air between the inside of said facility and the environment outside of said boundary; and    (ii) an electrically-powered air-conditioning refrigerating unit for cooling the air near the ground surface of said area;    wherein said physical boundary surrounds said area completely without leaving an opening in said physical boundary that would allow significant loss of cooled air from said area to the outside of said area.    
   
   
       19 . A method of air-conditioning an open-air residential or recreational facility in a climatically hot environment, comprising providing: 
 (i) a physical boundary surrounding the area of said facility and elevating to a predetermined height above the ground surface of said facility, wherein said boundary is adapted for reducing the lateral exchange of air between the inside of said boundary and the environment outside of said boundary; and    (ii) an electrically-powered cooling system for cooling the ground of said area and the air near the ground surface of said area.