Innovation

CoolAnt by Ant Studios, inspired by ancient Indian cooling techniques, uses terracotta, natural evaporation, and electricity from renewable sources to cool households and outdoor spaces. The system boasts an aesthetic look while using materials that can be returned to the soil post its cycle, thus reducing the environmental impact of cooling needs. The company offers two primary solutions, namely “The Beehive” and “The Facade,” with two other solutions, “Coral” and “Ether,” which are in the pipeline to be rolled out soon.

“The Beehive” is used for outdoor cooling applications, public spaces, atriums, low-rise buildings, and art installations. Inspired by the beehive, the fluid dynamic design of the terracotta pots increases the natural ventilation of the surroundings. The clever sensor-based water distribution system intelligently drops water onto the pot by detecting the microclimate. The pot’s evaporative cooling process helps to cool this water. As the hot air from the surroundings comes in contact with this chilled water, it cools down and is discharged into the targeted space to produce a cooling effect. All the while, a mechanism included within the Beehive is utilized to save the water consumed by the system carefully.

“The Façade” integrates with the walls or windows and improves the natural ventilation by sucking warm air from the outside via each pot's fluid dynamic form. It may be retrofitted into an existing building or even incorporated into a new construction to passively cool the building and dramatically lower energy needs by utilizing a recycling mechanism.

Other offerings from CoolAnt include “The Ether,” a portable cooling unit that aids in cooling the micro space around a person rather than the whole room, and “The Coral,” which acts as a semi-outdoor cooling system for public spaces.

A beehive-like terracotta cooling structure

Inspiration

Mr. Monish has always been inclined toward technology and decided to enter the robotic fabrication and construction industry. After completing his education abroad, he returned to India to fulfill his dream of conducting a construction project, which marked the beginning of his idea to do something unorthodox that would have demand in the future and be equally sustainable.

In his own words, “When I returned to India, my first dream project, the thing that I wanted to do, was to bring this robotic fabrication technology into the construction industry. I imagined robots going around and scooping out land to make buildings, the way ants create anthills. So that's how the idea came, from the ants, and we set up the Ants Studio, which later birthed CoolAnt.”

He then began looking for investors, working day and night toward making this project a success. He states that India aspires to compete with developed and developing countries and is technologically advanced with its manufacturing systems. He emphasized that any idea has to start somewhere and invent new materials and technologies and ultimately create value for all the stakeholders involved. Their cooling system design is inspired by the biomimicry beehive’s structure.

Overall impact

“COOLING THE WORLD IS WARMING THE PLANET. More CO2 was released into the atmosphere in 2 days in 2019 than in the entire year in 1902 when the air conditioner was invented.” – CoolAnt.

During peak summer, when energy demand soars, it is as much as 50 percent of the energy consumption. As quoted in a study, cooling energy consumption in buildings is likely to double in the next decade and become nearly four times in the next two decades compared to the 2017–18 baseline.

They have also been working with potters from around the country. This generates revenue for potters who have struggled recently because of the extensive substitution of their products for plastic products imported from China.

The system is designed to have a negligible environmental impact during the manufacturing process, usage, and after the product life cycle. Thus, the product developed is a natural cooling solution that has reduced energy consumption by up to 30%, reduced the carbon footprint by 133450 KG CO2/M3, brought a more sustainable cooling solution, and along the way, also brought art into the spaces.

The solution's effectiveness was visible from a project they undertook in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, at the Deki electronics factory. A CoolAnt beehive was designed as a cooling installation at the Deki electronics factory. The diesel generator placed within the factory caused a significant problem of vastly heating the air inside. To solve this problem, CoolAnt designed the Beehive to be placed in front of the diesel generator. At the factory, the ambient temperature was reduced from 45-47 to 32 degrees Celsius.

Mr. Monish, an architect who is also very accustomed to technology, is constantly looking to create opportunities for the company to employ digital fabrication and robotic fabrication methods in their structures for creating complex geometries on their respective medium of construction.

“Using locally available eco-friendly materials, recycled water, and reusable steel makes it a cost-efficient solution. This system requires minimal electricity (for the water pump) and water requirement since it’s circulated and pumped repeatedly when the installation is in use. The water tank can be topped up monthly or per the tank's capacity. No regular topping up is required,” says the CoolAnt Studio website.

Realizing that the reach of the product could be limited if the product is patented and solely used by CoolAnt, Mr. Monish decided to make the product an open-source product. Herein, not only are they allowing the use of their designs by their competitors, but also, they are acting as a consultant to those companies to increase product outreach.

This decision to make their product an open-source product was taken up by Mr. Monish when he realized that by doing so, not only would the product reach newer areas, but the overall speed of implementation of the product would also increase.

Many celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio have volunteered and shared the story to show appreciation towards the project and Mr. Monish’s initiative. Their story has also been covered by major organizations such as the UN environment program, CNN International, Brut India, History TV18, and TEDx, among many others, providing the organization with a much-needed impetus.

Business benefit

CoolAnt is intertwining products of our traditional craftsmanship, such as terracotta and crafted pots, with modern advancements in material science and technology. Through this, the company is creating jobs for architects, engineers, and local potters.

“In the initial years, we started working with Potters. Then, understanding the need to add value to society and determining the path to scalability, we decided to try and collaborate with local potters,” said Mr. Monish.

Benefiting the local manufacturers and craftsmen is one of the most crucial aspects of the business.

Even on the energy front, about 40% of the electricity produced is used by the building sector's air conditioners. By 2040, it is anticipated to reach 76% in India. All major industries are experiencing a sharp increase in energy demand due to booming infrastructure and real estate development. Using a CoolAnt product, electricity consumption can be reduced in various applications, including air conditioning, helping customers by lowering their electricity bills.

Social and environmental benefit

Being an architect by profession and an innovator at heart, Mr. Monish stated, “We are a creative bunch of people, and as creators, we like to see how you can use innovation for problem-solving. How we can come up with something really exciting while being something that many people can benefit from.”

With the existing general awareness about the ozone layer depletion caused primarily by the emission of chlorofluorocarbons used in the operations of an air conditioning unit, the positive environmental impact caused by Ant Studio’s innovative product: CoolAnt, is easy to gauge.

The product not only delivers on its promise of sustainability through its mode of operation but also through its construction mode. Being made from the earth using traditional craft by local artisans, every aspect of this product is nature friendly.

For it to have a considerable impact, the technology must be adopted more comprehensively and accessible to a broader audience. With that goal in mind and the logistic limitations to expansion being considered, the creators decided to go the open-source route with the product. Mr. Monish says, “It's working better as a social enterprise. You're able to give knowledge to people. We are doing more for society this way because we can acquire more knowledge in sharing. We want our product to be widely accepted and be adopted by as many people as possible.” With the technology now made open source by the creators, it is evident that we will see an accelerated adoption rate of the same. With the increasing penetration and acceptance of a technology like this, the societal and environmental impact will be manifold.

Interview

Monish Siripurapu, Founder