A New Route to Beating the Summer Urban Heat in Madrid
Air conditioned public transportation is now commonplace, but with rising summer temperatures attributed to climate change, waiting for a bus in the scorching summer heat is no picnic. Now new bus shelters, serving as a natural cooling oasis to boost the well-being of passengers, are being piloted in Spain’s capital city, as Cooling Post reports.
Developed and patented by sustainability-minded outdoor advertising and furniture company, JCDecaux Global, two shelters have now been installed in Madrid. Each contains a button that, when activated at a temperature of 77 Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius), kickstarts an evaporative cooling and ventilation system to bring relief to waiting passengers.
Addressing climate change
As the company’s earlier media release on its cooling bus shelters explains, summers have become hotter in recent years seeing increasingly frequent heat waves.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, the average temperature between 2015 and 2019 was 34 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) higher than in the fifty years between 1850 and 1900. This temperature rise has had consequences including the formation of urban heat islands, impacting cities and the health and wellness of their inhabitants.
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The outdoor advertising firm’s R&D teams were inspired by the natural, age-old process of evaporative cooling. Unlike misting, it is free from health risks, as it doesn’t contain micro-droplets: “Hot air entering the Natural Cooling shelter flows through a wet honeycomb-shaped panel. It is then cooled naturally by evaporation. This solution includes a tank to gather rainwater from the roof and a system to pipe the water to the cooling module, ” the company explains.
In addition, if there’s a lack of wind, fans blow the hot air through the wall. The cool air is then blown towards users waiting in the shelter. Meanwhile, solar panels on the roof produce the energy needed.
Initial tests have shown that these cooling shelters can reduce the ambient temperature by between 39-48 degrees Fahrenheit (4-9 degrees Celsius), and 50 percent of the natural humidity.
This real-time control system identifies the weather as well as the human presence in the shelter to function when required. It combines solar energy with rainwater harvesting to offer an alternative to energy-guzzling air conditioning.
“Our R&D team has designed a new generation of bus shelters inspired by nature… . Natural Cooling will improve the quality of urban life during increasingly frequent heat waves. The bus shelter’s evaporative cooling system is a practical solution for the comfort of city dwellers, ” says Jean-Charles Decaux, Co-Chief Executive Officer of JCDecaux.
Piloting in Madrid
As Trendwatching details, while creators JCDecaux announced the product back in 2020, it is only in 2024 that its cooling bus shelters are being piloted in a public setting. Madrid’s municipal transport company, EMT Madrid, has installed them at two central city locations, Pavones and Villaverde Cruce.
While the public appeared to have warmed to these nature-inspired cooling shelters and their appealing design featuring pastel colors and stylish seating, this trial will allow for an evaluation of the concept’s real world implementation.
If successful, these cooling shelters could be widely adopted as a workable solution to the challenges of urban heat, offering welcome relief to passengers traveling in the stifling summer heat.
