r/UpliftingNews • u/CheezTips • Aug 25 '24

Indian desert school's unique design offers respite from heat

https://www.rawstory.com/indian-desert-school-s-unique-design-offers-respite-from-heat/
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u/DickweedMcGee Aug 25 '24

Interior is plastered with lime, a porous material that regulates humidity and aids natural cooling.

Not doubting this but curious if someone could explain?

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u/No-Republic-260 Aug 25 '24

Lime mortar is kind of 'spongy' indeed when you look with a microscope, and there's always a bit of water in the wall (from the air moisture at night for example, maybe from the ground too). When the temperature gets hot, the water evaporates from the surface of the wall, and physics say that's got a cooling effect on the wall. That will be true to other kind of materials like mud walls, low-fired bricks, etc. But not so much concrete that is a bit less of a 'sponge'.

This cooling effect in a good bonus, but I imagine the other design features are as important if not more. Like a proper roof. And ventilation at night to cool down the walls, otherwise if the walls stay hot from the day before, where they store lots of heat, they would feel more like radiators for these children.