Emaar, one of the world's largest real estate developers, wanted to collaborate with startups to address environmental challenges in the real estate and construction industries. The Emaar Innovation Challenge received over 240 applications from 43 regions and countries.

i2Cool Limited was selected as the winner of the “Sustainability or Circular Economy” category and invited to Dubai for a demo day. On 25 January 2023, Emaar named i2Cool the winner of the challenge. Their winning solution is an electricity-free cooling technology that uses solar reflection and radiative heat dissipation to provide cooling without the use of electricity.

i2Cool Limited is co-founded by Dr. Martin Zhu, a SEE PhD alumni, and his PhD supervisor, Dr. Edwin Tso, Assistant Professor of SEE. The first product launched by i2Cool, iPaint, is a cooling paint that saves energy by reducing the use of air conditioning systems. Unlike traditional paint, iPaint has high solar reflectivity and high thermal emissivity to provide effective cooling. The surface temperature and indoor temperature after applying iPaint can be reduced by 40°C and 10°C, respectively, resulting in a 42% energy-saving for air cooling, significantly promoting carbon neutrality.

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Ta Kung Pao: http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/232109/2023/0208/815881.html