Self-Charging ARea-enhanced Cooling for Energy saving in buildings (SCARCE)

Rising cooling demand is straining energy and water resources worldwide. SCARCE expores a hybrid cooling technology that combines daytime radiative and evaporative cooling with nighttime self-recharging via atmospheric water harvesting. The project aims to develop a prototype panel and evaluate its performance under realistic conditions. The long-term vision is a scalable, water-efficient cooling system that can retrofit standard HVAC condensers and improve energy efficiency in buildings.

  • Field: Thermofluids; Materials engineering
  • Laboratory: Energy Transport Advances Laboratory (STI-ETA-LAB)
  • Project leaders: Zhengmao Lu and Gautier Rouaze
  • Budget: 34’500 CHF