OLD BUILDINGS, NEW FIXES Sustainable innovations to keep your home cool

 

 

 

IN 2024,India reported over 48,000 cases of heatstroke and 159 heatrelated deaths -astark sign of how rising temperatures are beginning to impact everyday life. But alongside the heat, something else is gaining momentum: a wave of climate-consciousinnovation.Agroup of young minds from across Indian institutes have come up with a range ofclever,climate-responsivesolutions - each designed to cool India’s buildings and move the country towards a resilient future. Solar Decathlon India (SDI), an annual competition for undergraduate and postgraduate students, sees the coming together of young innovatorswhorejig avant-gardesolutions withsimple tweaks- thinkceilingpanels made from mycelium waste, terracotta cone-based coolers, and jali (lattice) shading devices, all in a bid to come up with net-zero solutions for India’s climate crisis. Commending theirsenseof“agency and purpose”, PrasadVaidya, director and spokesperson, Solar Decathlon India, applauds the eco-consciousliteracy prevalent among these young minds.

 

They are not deterred by the mercurial nature of climate-induced problems, instead, it only furthers their resolve. Having observed the quiet confidence among these students over the years, as they give form to trailblazing innovations, Prasad says, “What counts is that they have understood theproblem.Theyhaveasolution that may not be perfect, but one that is in the works; one that they are looking at turning into a business model.” Driving energy-efficientcooling to shape a sustainable India A 2024 surveyconductedbytheYale Programme on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) revealed that the Indian outlook towards the future is coloured with worry. Where should the starting point for a mitigation plan begin?

 

As the adage suggests, it all begins at home. The organisers of Solar DecathlonIndia,Alliance foranEnergy Efficient Economy (AEEE)-India’s leading policy support and implementationorganisationcatalysing the responsible use of energy for a climate-resilient and energy secure future,andIndianInstitute forHuman Settlements (IIHS), a national knowledge institution that is committed to theequitable,sustainable,andefficient transformationofIndia’scities, towns, and villages, beckons us to turn our gaze towards our buildings, which account for three percent of India’s energy and process-related carbon dioxide emissions. Currently, only 10 percent ofIndian households have air-conditioning. But, the solution does not lie in scaling this number - this runs the risk of overburdening power grids. Instead, couldwelook at shifting the goalposts from conventional cooling technologies to more sustainable alternatives? This is exactly the mindset shift encouraged at SDI, compelling students to come up with low-energy, affordable,user-friendlyproducts that peoplecaninstallwithouthiring engineersor technicians.Thepremisehere is retrofitting.

 

“The word ‘retrofit’ conjures up images of significant components of buildingsbeingremovedandnewstuff being added. But that’s not what we do in India. Instead, people are in the habit of visiting a shop, buying something theyneed,andaskingalocal technician to install it,” reasons Prasad. He adds that to this end, retrofitting these technologies essentially means introducing them in existing residentialstructureswithoutextensivemodifications to the framework of the building, thus marking a pivotal change Innovationswith thepotential toripple into impact COOALA: Portable Water-Cooled AC Pictureawoman hard at work in her home kitchen, one of the thousands in the metropolitan area where she lives. As roti afterroti (Indian flatbread)pilehighonto theplate, the temperature rises in proportion. The kitchen mimics a furnace.

 

The heat within is exacerbated by the stove on which the rotis cook. This is the lived reality for most women in India. Atthe SDI Challenge, a team of students led by IES (Indian Education Society) College of Architecture, Mumbai, came up witha uniqueidea. They designed a portable air conditioner called ‘COOALA’. What made it stand out? It doesn’t need a pipe going through the window. That means no technician is required for installation. Plus, it can be easily rolled from one room to another. No surprise - it won over the jury instantly. The device works on the principle of temporalheatdissipationwithadual compressor cycle, thus matching the cooling performance of a typical oneand-a-half-ton room AC. Bloom: DIY Passive Cooling Module The flasher-based dynamiccooling prototypecouldwellbea template for how cooling can be achieved in residential spaces withoutrelying on traditional air conditioners.

 

The brainchild of students from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) in Nagpur, ‘Bloom’ is a modular, do-it-yourself (DIY) kit capable of achieving an average temperature differential of three degrees Celsius post-installation. In the long run, the device is designed tohelpsavemoneyandpower. Bloom’soperational costs are Rs 79 permonth,leading to substantial savings compared to the Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,000 monthly expense of a standard 1-ton, three-star AC unit. MushCool: Mycelium Ceiling Panels Who could have imagined that‘fungi tiles’ could be an antidote to India’s heat crisis? Research indicates that mycelium-bound composites are more energy efficient than conventional building insulation materials like expanded vermiculite. They possess thermal conductivity comparable to conventional insulating materialslike glasswool and extrudedpolystyrene. The ‘MushCool’ innovation, which is ceiling panels made from mycelium, oyster mushroom spores and organic waste such as sugarcane bagasse, an agricultural byproduct - by the students from Bengaluru’s RV College of Architecture, RV College of Engineering,andRVUniversity,School ofDesign andInnovation,wield these properties ofmycelium.Theresulting panels are eco-friendly, modular, affordable, and easy-to retrofit. Sustaina Shades Sugarcanebagasse,clay,paperpulp, aloe vera, lemongrass, and multani mitti (a type of clay) have a dual vantage.

 

They arebiodegradableandmost of them (sugarcane bagasse, clay, paperpulp and aloevera) haveacooling effect by nature. The ‘Sustaina Shades’ devisedby the students of the Sri Venkateshwara College of Architecture,Hyderabad andB.V.Raju Institute of Technology, also in Hyderabad, draws from the intersection of these properties. These shades are optimal for semiopen community spaces and claim to reduce indoor temperature by up to six and a half degrees Celsius. Terracool: Desiccant Cooling System Here’saninnovation that’sbringing thecoolantpropertiesof terracottaout of the shadows, ‘Terracool’, a hybrid wall module combining desiccantbased dehumidification, evaporative cooling, and solar power. Designed by the students of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, this uses desiccant technology to dehumidify and cool indoor spaces, reducing indoor temperatures by up to sevendegreesCelsiuswitha 10percent reduction in humidity. VAYU: Ceiling Fan Retrofit For Cooling & Dehumidification Visceral and confronting is how the jury would describe the solutions ideatedbytheyounginnovators.

 

Take, for instance, ‘VAYU,’alow-cost, personalised retrofit device that couples coolinganddehumidification through a desiccant wheel technology that helps control humidity and provides enhanced energy efficiency. Devised by the students of Manipal School of Architecture and Planning and Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka, the device is capable of operating temperatures between 22- 25degreesCelsiusandreduceshumidity by approximately five percent. It claims to save 1,500–2,000 kg of CO2, 1,260 kg from operation, and 250–800 kg from manufacturing, if in operation for a decade. EcoChill: Peltier-Based Water Cooler In the hot climes of Rajasthan, this innovation by the students of BITS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science), Pilani promises respite to the people. Unlike conventional ACs that overcool entire spaces,‘EcoChill’ is remote-controlled, easy to install, and built on wheels, thus enabling movement for focused cooling. The prototype demonstrated a significant temperature reduction from 35 degrees Celsius to 26 degrees Celsius. Solar-Responsive Thermal Curtain Imagineaclimate-proof blanket made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride) andsteelrods thatautomaticallyopens and closes based on solar intensity! Not only have the students of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi built such a device, but they’ve also testedit across 10 homesin two cities.

 

They found energy reductions to be between 60 percent and 70 percent. This owes to the multi-layered insulationsystemwithreflective,low-conductivity, and thermal mass materials. Coolheart:Terracotta Cone-Based Cooler Doyou remember architectMonish Siripurapu, founder of Ant Studio design firm, whose air cooling system receivedUnitedNationsacclaim?Well, thesameprincipleofevaporativecooling - an ancient technique in which water is cooled by passing it through an earthen cone system - is now the premise of an innovation by the students of Bengaluru’s RV College of Architecture, RV College of Engineering, and RV University. ‘Coolheart’ is a compact and modular cooler that uses terracotta cones combinedwithrefrigerant-basedcooling, capable of providing localised indoor cooling. The plug-n-play unit consumes 600-1200watts, resultingin consistently low energy bills, a great bet for low-resource residential settings. SheetalVayu: Sustainable Jali Shading Device Whether it’s the stepwells of Rajasthan or themosque, palaces and cenotaphs of ancient India, the jali weaves a beautiful story through the history of Indian architecture Sometimes as sun breakers, other times as shades, the jalis encourage heat dissipation techniques.

 

The students of Mumbai’s NMIMS’s Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management & Engineering and NMIMS’s Balwant Sheth School of Architecture developed a jali-based shading device for windows, a homage to the classics. Constructed from sustainable materials, the ‘SheetalVayu’ prototype showed a reduction of indoor temperatures by two and a half degrees Celsius with 14.8percent water absorption aided cooling. Since its inception in 2020, SDI has growninto theworld’slargestnet-zero building challenge, with over 8,200 students from 300+ institutions collaborating with 400+ partners in the building industry.It shows us that climate action doesn’talwaysneedmassive infrastructure or big budgets. All it takes is an idea, a classroom, and a commitment towards a sustainable future. With every prototype, these younginnovators arestitching together a future that’s cooler, greener, and within reach.