Innovative Companies Developing Clothing to Combat Rising Temperatures

Each morning in Qatar, numerous construction workers begin their day by drenching their uniforms in water. This brief two-minute routine initiates a crucial procedure: while working outdoors, often enduring scorching summer temperatures surpassing 120F (48C), their attire can effectively lower skin temperature by up to 8C (14F) for a duration of seven hours.

The uniforms are manufactured by the British startup Techniche UK, which brands them as StayQool suits. Suits made with a specially designed mesh layer and a waterproof inner layer absorb and remove heat by evaporation. They’re also adjustable: Workers can add or remove a cooling collar or wrist cuff as needed.

Techniche isn’t alone in seeing the potential in clothing designed to beat the heat. 2023 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record, and many startups are exploring new technologies and textiles to keep people cool. In the United States, work is currently underway to commercialize wearable technology that mimics air conditioning, while in China, researchers are working on a highly reflective fabric. With more heat and heat waves expected in the coming years, cooling is becoming the holy grail of clothing manufacturers.

“As climate change pushes temperatures to extremes, consumer demand for cooling clothing will also grow faster,” says Sophie Bakalar, a partner at the venture capital firm Collaborative Fund, which invests in climate-friendly clothing. “This trend is likely to continue as the Global South continues to industrialize and consumers have more disposable income for convenience.”

Extreme heat isn’t just uncomfortable – it’s bad for people’s health and the economy. Heat stress is especially dangerous for children and the elderly, and can worsen existing illnesses. Productivity also suffers. In 2021, heat exposure limited 470 million potential work hours worldwide in agriculture, construction, manufacturing and service industries, according to data compiled by The Lancet. In the United States, President Joe Biden has said that heat waves cost the country $100 billion a year.

Studies show that heat waves are likely to become more common in the coming decades. For companies like Techniche, that’s a recipe for growth. Today, the startup sells vests, hats, lanyards and other clothing with built-in cooling technology to companies and individual customers in nearly 30 countries. Last year, it had sales of nearly 7 million pounds ($8.8 million), up from 150,000 pounds in 2014, when Techniche launched cooling baseball caps as its first commercial product.

“The market is growing tremendously,” says co-founder and CEO James Russell.

The company is currently developing a cooling vest equipped with smart sensors that can monitor workers’ biometrics and predict when they might be at risk of heat stress. It is also working on gear that can absorb heat using phase-change materials, originally developed by NASA to help astronauts maintain a steady body temperature in space.

On the other side of the world from Techniche’s London office, Renkun Chen, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, is working on the same problem. Except Chen uses his background in mechanical engineering to design clothes with air conditioning.

Just as conventional air conditioners keep a space cool by transferring heat outside, Chen has produced palm-sized thermoelectric devices that respond to the desired temperature set by the user. The devices are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and are small and flexible enough to be tucked into clothing. They reduce the skin temperature by a maximum of 10 C.

“Our climate has already changed, and this is irreversible,” says Chen. While cutting carbon dioxide emissions is vital, he says, “We also need to find ways to adapt, because there will certainly be more extremely hot days.”

Chen says his research group has already partnered with a California startup to commercialize the technology. They still need to develop an automated production line capable of producing thermoelectric devices at scale, which would bring production costs down from several thousand dollars for a single shirt to closer to $200. In China, researchers at Zhejiang University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and several other institutes are taking another approach: clothing that reflects the sun’s heat. Scientists manipulated the structure of polyester using nanomaterials and a redesigned weaving technique, resulting in a material that reflects about 90 percent of the sun’s rays, according to a 2021 study published in the journal Science. A traditional white cotton shirt reflects about 60% of sunlight.

Reflective polyester also emits more infrared energy than regular fabrics, which lowers body temperature. According to research, the material can stay up to 5 degrees cooler than midday air temperature and up to 10 degrees cooler at night. Although their work has not yet been commercialized, the authors of the study noted that their polyester is “easily compatible” with clothing production.

Warm summers have spurred innovation in a wide range of consumer goods and wearables. Tokyo-based Kuchofuku Co. has developed a fan-equipped carrier, while another Japanese manufacturer, A-Mec Co., makes cooling vests for dogs.

Although there are many different approaches, most of these cooling solutions face similar limitations, says Bakalar of the Collaborative Fund.

The biggest one is the price, which needs to come down to make high-tech cooling equipment available and attractive. Chen’s AC clothing would be prohibitively expensive for most at up to $200 per shirt. Russell says Techniche’s cooling suit is priced comparable to mid-level gear used by construction workers in the US and Europe, but costs more than four times as much as similar workwear in developing countries.

Some cooling clothes come with other trade-offs. For eight hours of work, about 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of electronic components are embedded in Chen’s AC transmission. The Techniche cooling vest is 20% heavier than the traditional option. Then there are the limited styles available and the constant skepticism of potential buyers.

“It’s worth noting that strict guardrails are not yet required when it comes to cooling to reinforce brand claims,” says Bakalar.

All of these barriers are part of what makes outdoor workers a good target group: cooling clothing is more of a necessity than a novelty for them, and companies that employ such workers tend to foot the bill. Almost 90 percent of Techniche’s revenue comes from industries such as construction and oil drilling, Russell says.

But today’s niche solutions may well be tomorrow’s mainstream fad. July was the hottest month ever. Over time, entrepreneurs like Russell expect the adoption of cooling clothing to spread from outdoor workers to almost everyone. “There will come a time when people will have to wear cooling clothes with sensors just to walk across the street,” he says. “It’s not tomorrow. It’s not the day after. [But] it’s absolutely inevitable.