Architectural heat and moisture exchange

Abstract

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.

What is claimed is: 
     
         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.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the radiation absorbing element is further configured to absorb radiation passing through the membrane. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the radiation absorbing element is disposed within the first sub-channel and is configured to transfer heat to the incoming air stream by convection. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the radiation absorbing element is disposed within the second sub-channel and is configured to transfer heat to the outgoing air stream by convection. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the membrane is substantially transparent to radiation within the spectrum, and wherein the radiation absorbing element is configured to absorb radiation passing through both the exterior wall of the exchanger and the membrane. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the exchanger housing, the membrane and the radiation absorbing element are collectively configured to allow a desired fraction of radiation incident on the exchanger housing to be transmitted to the building interior. 
     
     
         7 . A system for enabling heat and moisture exchange between air streams entering and leaving a building, comprising:
 a heat and moisture exchanger including exterior walls constructed at least partially from radiant energy transmitting enclosure material and which define an interior channel;   a membrane, permeable to water vapor and substantially impermeable to constituent gases of air, disposed within the interior channel and dividing the interior channel into a first sub-channel through which a source air stream may pass and a second sub-channel through which an exhaust air stream may simultaneously pass;   a first opening in the exterior walls configured to allow ingress of the source air stream from an external environment into the first sub-channel;   a second opening in the exterior walls configured to allow ingress of the exhaust air stream from an interior enclosure of the building into the second sub-channel; and   at least one radiation-absorbing element disposed within one of the sub-channels;   wherein the energy transmitting enclosure material has a transmissivity, the radiation-absorbing element has a geometry, and the transmissivity and the geometry are collectively configured to control a fraction of energy incident on the exterior walls that is transmitted through the exchanger to the interior enclosure of the building.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one radiation-absorbing element includes a plurality of discrete radiation-absorbing elements. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one radiation-absorbing element includes a plurality of interconnected radiation-absorbing elements. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the exchanger is configured to be coupled with an HVAC unit and to direct the source air stream into the HVAC unit after the source air stream passes through the exchanger. 
     
     
         11 . A heat and moisture exchanger system, comprising:
 an exchanger housing including exterior walls defining an interior channel;   a barrier disposed within the interior channel and partitioning the interior channel into a first sub-channel adapted to receive a source air stream and a second sub-channel adapted to receive an exhaust air stream; and   a plurality of radiation-absorbing elements disposed within one of the sub-channels and each configured to absorb radiant energy incident upon a surface of the radiation-absorbing element, and to re-emit at least a fraction of the absorbed energy by convection.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the exterior walls is transparent to radiation within a first spectrum. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the barrier is transparent to radiation within the first spectrum. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the barrier is transparent to radiation within a second spectrum. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the radiation-absorbing elements are transparent to radiation within the first spectrum. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the radiation-absorbing elements are disposed within the first sub-channel. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the radiation-absorbing elements are disposed within the second sub-channel. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the radiation-absorbing elements are discrete. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the radiation-absorbing elements are interconnected. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein first sub-channel is further adapted to direct the source air stream toward a building interior, wherein the exterior walls have a transmissivity, wherein the radiation-absorbing elements have a geometry, and wherein the transmissivity and the geometry are collectively configured to control a fraction of energy incident on the exchanger housing that is transmitted through the exchanger to the building interior.