Park Service Innovation

We saw an innovative heating and cooling system implemented in the Zion National Park visitor center. I am always on the lookout for creative solutions to everyday problems – like how to heat and cool a space without using fossil fuels. I especially like regional solutions, which use the resources at hand.

Zion Nation Park visitor center, with its
tall cooling towers.

The visitor center design uses wind, water, and sunlight to cool in the summer, and heat in the winter. In the summer, the tall cooling towers capture outside air, which flows over wet baffles and then sinks and cools the building. In the winter, heat from the sun is captured passively in a south facing “trombe” or heating wall, and radiates naturally into the building, where it rises and warms the building. You can read more about their environmentally friendly visitor center on the website: http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-national-park-visitors-center.htm

Signage provides a description of the heating and cooling strategy.

This may not apply directly to most private gardens, but it could be useful in principle. A strategically placed rock wall in a private garden could block wind and capture heat during the day, providing a comfortable early evening sitting area under the stars. A green house could likewise use an energy strategy to keep it warmed and cooled as needed.