Croshield works with the climatic principle of thermal mass – the property of a material to absorb, store and slowly release heat. In times of climate and energy crisis, it becomes more important to take advantage of free solar or abundant heat. Thermal mass will absorb heat from the sun during the day and radiate it out as the temperature drops in the afternoon throughout
the evening. Thermal mass reduces the room temperature during midday and early afternoon and
increases the room temperature late in the afternoon and early evening hours.
Croshield investigates the thermal mass property of a curtain knitted of locally available stones. The adaptive design of the stone curtain can be deployed as a tool for the conservation of energy.
Stone is a particularly good heat accumulator and was therefore used for centuries in the architecture.
Materials used for thermal mass are such as concrete, bricks, and tiles. The denser the mass of stone is, the longer the heat is stored. This can be seen in thick stone walls in buildings, but also terracotta tiles in Mediterranean regions. While exposed to heat or sunlight, the thick stone walls of a building warm up, store the heat, and release it slowly when the temperature cools down at night – like a thermal battery.
By bringing the idea of thermal mass into designing a curtain in contrast to thick walls or tiles, a heat-storing and -releasing curtain made of stones is constructed with a 1-thread system. Stones, a rigid, slippery material, into a flexible, movable hanging surface was with a circular knitting technique.
The circular knitting machine used for this is an open-source, hackable, and generally easy-to-use tool. In times of high inflation on energy prices, individuals can make use of free solar or abundant
energy adjusted to their environment by creating their stone curtain to enhance a pleasant thermal
environment.