Paris-based industrial designer Jean-Sébastien Lagrange and French engineer Raphaël Ménard created Zero Energy Furniture table, the table able to cut energy costs by 60 per cent through its ability to regulate the temperature in a room without the use of electricity.
Also known as the ZEF Climatic Table, the table comes in a sleek design of solid oak and beautifully angled legs.
Beneath the oak lies the table’s unique character. Placed between the wood and anodized aluminium bottom is a series of phase-changing materials (PCMs). These materials soften when the room reaches 71 degrees fahrenheit, absorbing heat until the room becomes cool enough. The materials harden when the temperature drops below 71 degrees fahrenheit, releasing the trapped heat, regulating the room’s temperature.
The design duo designed the table as the first of a series of items that will seek to solve energy efficiency and climate control issues at a furniture scale rather than a building scale.