Cooling technologies to combat environmental heat

Client overview

A company was interested in technologies to reduce the impact of environmental heating due to global warming. The client asked Strategic Allies Ltd (SAL) to produce a broad technology landscape of cooling technologies used in adjacent industries including construction, textiles, clothing, cold chain logistics, healthcare, electronics and defence. The client wanted to understand the science and fundamental mechanisms behind the cooling technologies with a view to potentially integrating them in their future products. They were particularly interested in passive technologies with proven cooling effects. The SAL team captured their landscaping research in Excel and a summary slide deck, to help the client ideate and identify the most promising concepts to develop further. SAL also answered key technical questions posed by the client’s in-house research team.

The search

SAL divided the research into two phases, the first was designed to be a broad landscape covering a range of technologies, with the client prioritising several for the second phase which was a deeper dive. In the first phase, SAL presented use cases, showcasing the potential of each technology, covering the mechanism, where it was used and how it could be applied to the client’s products.

Seven different cooling mechanisms were investigated in phase one, with four prioritised for a deeper dive. In phase two SAL reviewed sources such as academic publications, press releases and patents to dig deeper into the background science behind the prioritised cooling mechanisms. SAL supplemented this research with six technical interviews with key opinion leaders and subject matter experts that covered the technologies of interest and the client’s questions. SAL’s final report contained recommendations of next steps based on the findings of the project, including the most appropriate technologies for the client to test and some proposed suppliers. SAL presented the report to leading stakeholders in R&D within the client’s organisation.

“A big, big thank you for the comprehensive research – gives a very good understanding of this complex topic and what solution we can use.”

Outcome

In Phases 1 and 2, SAL identified > 60 different use cases, spanning seven different cooling mechanisms.

SAL presented the use cases and summary of cooling mechanisms in a report, which included commentary from 6 scientific experts.

SAL provided recommendations of suitable technologies for the next steps of product development.