Buildings on Ice:
Making the Case for Thermal Energy Storage

The idea of using ice to cool buildings isn’t new; it was done generations ago by cutting blocks of ice from lakes and ponds during the winter in northern climates and storing that ice in insulated buildings, packed in sawdust, for use in the summer. The practice largely died out with the advent of compression-cycle air conditioning in the early 1900s, but returned in the late 1970s with interest in reducing energy costs. Today, making ice during the nighttime using off-peak...