Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
#00062
Implementer
Ant Studio (Monish Siripurapu)
Timeline
Since Jan 1, 2017
Location
Description
The first CoolAnt "Beehive" was installed in 2017 at the Deki Electronics factory in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, to relieve workers exposed to Indian summer heat combined with diesel-generator exhaust. Architect Monish Siripurapu's Ant Studio arranged hundreds of hand-thrown terracotta cones into a beehive-like lattice; recycled water trickles over the cones while the generator's own hot-air thrust is channelled through them, so evaporation off the wet clay cools the air reaching the work area. Cone geometry and stacking were tuned with computational fluid dynamics so air does not bounce back toward the genset. This prototype led to a product line (Beehive, Aeroleaf, Binary) deployed at schools, public spaces, airports, and commercial buildings across India.
Metrics
4Funding
Lessons learned
- Forced airflow from an existing hot-air source (here, generator exhaust) drives evaporation hard and gives the largest, most reliable temperature drops — replicators should map existing forced-air waste streams on site before designing the module array.
- Measured performance tracks the wet-bulb depression: the up-to-15 °C figure is a hot-dry best case, and humid days deliver substantially less — site humidity data is a prerequisite for performance forecasting.
- Sourcing cones from local potters kept unit cost low and the supply chain local while reviving a traditional craft — identifying local terracotta artisans is a viable procurement path in South Asian and similar contexts.
Sources
3Documented Jun 13, 2026