concepts · updated 2026-07-19
Bill Mingenbach
confidence: low volatility: cold
Suggested overhead 8-inch PVC ceiling tanks to Steve Baer, a key Cool Cell development step (combined with the August 1999 switch to rooftop radiators). Also credited, as William Mingenbach, with insulated drum shades at the NM State Office Building in Taos (1976).
Suggested 8″ PVC pipes overhead as ceiling water tanks to Steve Baer — combined with the switch to rooftop radiators in August 1999, this proved superior to wall radiators (roofs radiate more effectively than walls, per Cramer and Newbauer’s 1964 work) and became a key development step toward the Cool Cell. See Cool Cell architectural climate-control.
Credited, as “William Mingenbach,” with insulated drum shades at the New Mexico State Office Building in Taos (1976) — one of the built-project examples in Baer’s 2009 AIA passive solar slideshow. See Baer AIA passive solar slideshow.
Unknown
Whether the ceiling-tanks suggestion and the 1976 Taos state office building credit are the same person is inferred from name match, not independently confirmed. Full biography and Zomeworks role/tenure are not documented in the archive.