Dr. Edwin Tso, Assistant Professor, was recently invited by the RTHK to talk about a novel building cooling energy saving strategy at a radio programme (Programme Title in Chinese: “寰聽世界”) on 15 June 2021.

Dr. Tso introduced the passive radiative cooling technology to the broad audience of the programme. Unlike traditional air-conditioning systems, passive radiative cooling is an energy-free and refrigerant-free cooling technology that reflects incoming solar irradiance, while emitting thermal radiation to the cold universe, thereby achieving sub-ambient cooling. Using the universe as a cooling source, Dr. Tso and his research team developed a passive radiative cooling paint, providing a sustainable and energy-saving solution to the consumption of electricity in buildings. Supported by the Hong Kong Civil Engineering and Development Department and Electrical and Mechanical Services Department of the HKSAR Government, a roof of a building in Hong Kong has been coated with this paint. The roof surface temperature was reduced by more than ~ 20 °C, while the indoor air temperature could be reduced by more than ~ 3 °C, significantly saving the air conditioning energy consumption in the building. By sharing this interesting building energy-saving technology with the audience, awareness of environmental issues among the general public can be raised, benefiting both our living environment and society.

About the RTHK radio programme (Programme Title in Chinese: “寰聽世界”): 
https://www.rthk.hk/radio/pth/programme/huantingshijie/episode/754698