Increasingly efficient cooling systems to face hotter summers
Summer is becoming increasingly challenging for buildings and cities, with a steady rise in average temperatures and longer heatwave periods. In this scenario, cooling systems are no longer just a matter of comfort, but a key energy and design requirement.
According to several international studies, HVAC systems (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) account for around 40–50% of building electricity consumption during summer months, with an increasing share especially in densely populated urban areas. Global cooling demand is expected to grow significantly over the coming decades, driven by urbanisation and climate change.
Efficiency and New Technological Solutions
Alongside traditional compression-based systems, alternative solutions such as evaporative cooling and hybrid systems are gaining increasing attention. These technologies use water evaporation to reduce air temperature while requiring significantly less energy.
Under favourable conditions, evaporative cooling systems can lower perceived temperatures by 8–12°C, with electricity consumption up to 80% lower than traditional air conditioning systems.
In industrial applications, some systems consume only 1–2 kW to cool large air volumes, compared with the 15–20 kW required by compression-based systems with similar capacity.
Another important aspect is water usage. The latest technologies are focusing on water recovery and optimisation strategies, achieving reductions of up to 20% in overall water demand in advanced evaporative cooling systems.
Urban Comfort and Energy Challenges
The widespread adoption of cooling systems also brings new challenges. The massive increase in air conditioning use in cities contributes to summer electricity demand peaks, potentially creating stress on energy grids during the hottest hours of the day.
At the same time, interest is growing in intelligent indoor climate management systems, which adjust temperature and ventilation according to building occupancy and outdoor conditions.
The goal is to reduce energy consumption without compromising comfort, an increasingly important balance in modern building design.
In this context, summer cooling is no longer a standardised solution, but a combination of integrated strategies that bring together energy efficiency, sustainability, and climate adaptation.
A direction that has become essential for dealing with longer and hotter summers.
