Project Overview
Project Description
Heat risk is a “silent killer” in low- and middle-income, hot countries, and a major driver of emissions from increasing demand for air conditioning. Recent materials science breakthroughs have resulted in roof coatings with extraordinary potency to remove heat from buildings and radiate it into deep space at specific wavelengths.
On a 100F (38C) day, these “passive daytime radiative cooling” solutions have the potential to reduce indoor air temperatures to as low as 82F (28C) without any energy input. This is a life-changing – or lifesaving – difference to a family using their home as a workshop, a child trying to study, a nursing mother, or an outdoor laborer simply needing some nighttime relief.
Third Derivative, RMI’s global climate tech accelerator, is leading an effort to do real-world, comparative pilot testing of next-generation passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) solutions where these solutions are needed most – in informal or self-built settlement communities in Ahmedabad, India.
Third Derivative will be piloting at least two different PDRC solutions on 20 households each, with additional households as controls. It will be monitoring ambient conditions, roof surface temperature, indoor air temperature, as well as several health markers for the occupants.
This project will support the pilot, focusing on data evaluation, analysis, and validation of the performance of PDRC products in real-world conditions. The Fellow will produce a report detailing the findings of the study.
Impact
Third Derivate completed a global techno-economic analysis which found that if deployed at scale in informal settlements and low-income housing in high heat-stressed regions, PDRC solutions could save 122,000 lives annually by 2030. If applied to select commercial applications in the same regions, PDRC solutions could save 92 billion labor hours otherwise lost from heat-related productivity losses, which translates to $28 billion in annual economic benefit. Further, PDRC solutions could save 156 TWh of cooling-related energy consumption, which translates to 122 million MT in annual carbon emissions savings. Additional benefits include reduced temperature peaks causing detrimental health impacts including reduced cognitive function (in schools this has profound effects on children’s learning).
The goal of this project is to evaluate and validate the performance of PDRC products in real–world conditions. In doing so, Third Derivative can enable further efforts to get these impactful products to market and to scale faster. This specific study offers developers of PDRC products an opportunity to deploy their products and gather performance and human health data from residential and commercial sites with relatively low opportunity cost. Though PDRC developers range from small startups to large conglomerates, the category has not yet attracted major capital investment overall, and many of these products remain nascent and/or poorly categorized.
Eligibility Criteria
Skills / Experience:
- Required:
- Research
- Data analysis & statistics – comfortable working with large datasets
- Technical writing & documentation – data visualization and attention to detail
- Self-motivated and comfortable leading the research (receiving feedback as appropriate)
- Desired:
- Ability to share research insights in a compelling manner
Discipline:
- Background in core engineering fields or data science
Preferred Fellow Local Experience (all projects can be completed remotely):
- Local experience in India may be beneficial, but not required
Preferred Timezone (when the Fellow should be available for meetings):
- N/A – the supporting team is international
