The first application of the new paint took place at Townmead Business Centre in William Morris Way, Fulham, on Thursday, 15 October. Businesses located within the building are expected to benefit from the paint's ability to reflect over 90% of sunlight, helping to keep roofs up to 30 degrees cooler and potentially reducing air conditioning expenses by as much as 20%.
This advanced technology has been created by Emissiv, a local start-up that originated from Imperial College London's campus within the White City Innovation District. Nikhil Dawda, co-founder of Emissiv, highlighted the crucial support received: "Imperial College and the White City Innovation District have been extremely helpful in helping us scale. The university provided initial grant funding and, in partnership with H&F, they were also able to facilitate our first local pilots."
Further trials are scheduled across H&F, including at commercial office space managed by The Earls Court Development Company and on Imperial College's Wood Lane campus in White City. Emissiv believes the paint could eventually be used to cool entire neighbourhoods across London and offer protection against summer heatwaves for homes and infrastructure.
Nikhil Dawda and fellow co-founder Sandra, who met during their master's programme in sustainable energy futures at Imperial, identified the challenge of cooling buildings in a warming climate. Their work on this coating solution stemmed from this shared concern. Dawda recently presented the paint at H&F's Upstream London Economic Forum, an event that gathered global innovation leaders and showcased H&F's 'triple helix' model of collaboration between universities, businesses, and local government.
The White City Innovation District is recognised as a hub for climate tech start-ups in the UK. Since the launch of the H&F Council's Upstream London economic growth strategy in 2017, the borough has attracted £1.1 billion in green and climate tech investment. Through initiatives like the H&F Pathway Bond, the council aims to ensure local residents benefit from this economic growth, offering young people career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, maths, medicine, and media (STEM3).
