04-05-2025
Revisiting Passive Cooling
As Indian cities battle intensifying heatwaves, can we cool our homes and buildings without ramping up electricity use? In this episode of The Climate Economy from The Hindu, host Kunal Shankar explores the science and solutions behind passive cooling—an age-old yet futuristic way to keep spaces comfortable using design, materials, and nature itself.
From the Urban Heat Island Effect to innovative architectural solutions like double-skin facades, desiccant cooling, PDRC, and thermal mass materials, we look at how buildings can be part of the climate solution rather than the problem.
Featuring global and Indian case studies—from Zimbabwe's termite-inspired EastGate Centre to Delhi's CoolAnt Beehive and Milan's Bosco Verticale—this episode showcases the power of climate-adaptive architecture.
Presentation: Kunal Shankar
Editing: Aniket Singh Chauhan
Script: P Jaisakthi Jothi
Video: Johan Sathya Das
