International.
A study from Canada's University of British Columbia (UBC) indicates that snow cleared from roads in winter and stored could help reduce a building's summer air conditioning bills.
The UBC study, a computer modeling simulation, found that coupling a building's cooling system with a snow dump — the snow collected and stored from winter road clearing operations — could save energy used for air conditioning during the warmer parts of the year.
"What this study shows is that it is possible to use snow to reduce electricity consumption in structures like apartment buildings," said Kasun Hewage, an associate professor of engineering at UBC's Okanagan campus. "We now also know that using material from snow dumps to cool buildings can also help reduce the greenhouse gases emitted by air conditioning units."
The study included simulations for large buildings and explained the different types of equipment needed in both conventional cooling systems and snow dump-based systems, which isolate snow collected during the winter months for use during the summer.
"Although more research is needed, the potential of this type of system to be used in large buildings and institutions looks promising," said Rehan Sadiq, an engineering professor at UBC's Kelowna campus. "Aside from making good use of waste materials, this type of system could eventually help large organizations like municipalities recoup some of the considerable costs associated with snow removal."
To learn about the study you can click here.
