Volume 13. Issue 03. March 2019 Rs. 25/-
THE
INSIDE TRACK CONNECTING THE DESIGN COMMUNITY Now view our web edition at www.theinsidetrack.in
Cover Story
W
hile the world is s t e a d f a s t l y w o rk i n g towards fighting global warming and energy crisis, India is still a step behind. India is one of the top polluters contributing around 4.9% of greenhouse gas emissions, and additionally, our building industry is a major consumer of energy. Hence, the best way to tackle cataclysmic damage is preempt it and encourage energyefficient innovations. Delhi-based practice Ant St ud i o’s eva p o r a t i ve c o o l i n g system, Beehive, may have started as a site-specific installation to counter the industry generated heat, but now has become a scalable passive cooling prototype. Monish Siripurapu, the principal architect of Ant Studio explains, “The pilot Beehive project was installed to cool down a driveway of an office building, where a diesel generator set was installed. The DG set added to the outdoor heat, scaling the temperatures to 4045°C and making the temperature differential between indoor and outdoor unhealthily vast. With electricity consumption of 3.5 units a day, Beehive was able to achieve a drop of 10-15°C, while restoring thermal comfort to the employees.” The studio’s invention was one of the twelve winners in the Asia-Pacific Low-Carbon Lifestyles
Keeping Cool With Beehive
Ant Studio’s passive cooling alternative to air-conditioning is energy efficient and aids in reducing the carbon footprint. BY SHWETA SALVI
Beehive adopts evaporative cooling technique wherein air is allowed to pass through soaked earthen pots to bring down the temperature
Connectors and joinery hardware that efficiently holds the structure of the system
Challenge, winning a US$10,000 grant from UN Environment to further develop and enhance the system. Beehive was lauded for using zero refrigerants and only a fraction of the power of regular units. Beehive adopts the traditional evaporative cooling technique, which essentially imitates function of perspiration in human body. Taking cues from our tradition of storing water in earthen pots to naturally cool water, this system continued on page 2