About us
About us
About us
About us
About us
About us
About us
The ARC ‘Cool Buildings’ programme (CBP) addresses the pressing challenge of achieving thermal comfort in hot and humid climates. It focuses on developing, testing, and disseminating innovative passive cooling solutions that are affordable, sustainable, and adaptable to local needs. ARC is a team of volunteers led by Andrew Simmonds of Simmonds.Mills (SM), a UK-based architectural R&D firm, in partnership with the Al-Mizan Children’s Ecovillage (CEV) in Tanzania, which serves as the first of several ARC-initiated potential field-testing R&D sites in Africa and Asia. The CEV management and staff provide ARC with facilities and collaborative capacity, acting as a hub for exemplar-building demonstration, community engagement, creative problem solving, knowledge and solutions dissemination.
The project specifically targets two key markets: lower-income self-builders, who require affordable and accessible solutions to improve housing quality, and higher-income managed self-builders, who demand passive cooling innovations that can be integrated with modern building standards. By addressing the distinct needs of these market segments, the project ensures scalability and adoption across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.
By integrating robust R&D with community engagement, ARC is supporting innovative and scalable pathways to improve thermal comfort in buildings in hot and humid climates, addressing both immediate needs and long-term sustainability goals for people living in environmentally and socio-economically challenging regions. ARC solutions aim to create cool, comfortable indoor environments without the immediate need for mechanical cooling and dehumidification equipment.
However, as global temperatures rise and climate-vulnerable countries faces increasing extreme heat and intense rainfall events, there will inevitably come a point when passive cooling alone may no longer suffice in many contexts. Recognising this, our approach is to future-proof designs to allow for easier retrofit of energy-efficient mechanical cooling and dehumidification systems. This ensures that buildings designed today will not only meet the immediate needs of their occupants but also remain adaptable to future climate conditions. The solutions developed will integrate with modern mechanical systems to minimise energy consumption and operational costs, avoiding the common problem of retrofitted buildings consuming unsustainable amounts of energy. To complement ARC’s ‘passive design’ approach, we are also developing a technical brief for optimised cooling and dehumidification equipment. This brief will focus on achieving the best balance between building fabric performance and efficient management of indoor humidity and temperatures during extreme heat events. By integrating building envelope design with advanced mechanical systems, the project ensures that buildings can operate in a zero-energy, passive cooling mode for much of the time, while also allowing for a low-energy mechanical cooling mode when required. This approach maximises occupant comfort and energy efficiency, even as the climate becomes more extreme.
The ARC ‘Cool Buildings’ programme (CBP) addresses the pressing challenge of achieving thermal comfort in hot and humid climates. It focuses on developing, testing, and disseminating innovative passive cooling solutions that are affordable, sustainable, and adaptable to local needs. ARC is a team of volunteers led by Andrew Simmonds of Simmonds.Mills (SM), a UK-based architectural R&D firm, in partnership with the Al-Mizan Children’s Ecovillage (CEV) in Tanzania, which serves as the first of several ARC-initiated potential field-testing R&D sites in Africa and Asia. The CEV management and staff provide ARC with facilities and collaborative capacity, acting as a hub for exemplar-building demonstration, community engagement, creative problem solving, knowledge and solutions dissemination.
The project specifically targets two key markets: lower-income self-builders, who require affordable and accessible solutions to improve housing quality, and higher-income managed self-builders, who demand passive cooling innovations that can be integrated with modern building standards. By addressing the distinct needs of these market segments, the project ensures scalability and adoption across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.
By integrating robust R&D with community engagement, ARC is supporting innovative and scalable pathways to improve thermal comfort in buildings in hot and humid climates, addressing both immediate needs and long-term sustainability goals for people living in environmentally and socio-economically challenging regions. ARC solutions aim to create cool, comfortable indoor environments without the immediate need for mechanical cooling and dehumidification equipment.
However, as global temperatures rise and climate-vulnerable countries faces increasing extreme heat and intense rainfall events, there will inevitably come a point when passive cooling alone may no longer suffice in many contexts. Recognising this, our approach is to future-proof designs to allow for easier retrofit of energy-efficient mechanical cooling and dehumidification systems. This ensures that buildings designed today will not only meet the immediate needs of their occupants but also remain adaptable to future climate conditions. The solutions developed will integrate with modern mechanical systems to minimise energy consumption and operational costs, avoiding the common problem of retrofitted buildings consuming unsustainable amounts of energy. To complement ARC’s ‘passive design’ approach, we are also developing a technical brief for optimised cooling and dehumidification equipment. This brief will focus on achieving the best balance between building fabric performance and efficient management of indoor humidity and temperatures during extreme heat events. By integrating building envelope design with advanced mechanical systems, the project ensures that buildings can operate in a zero-energy, passive cooling mode for much of the time, while also allowing for a low-energy mechanical cooling mode when required. This approach maximises occupant comfort and energy efficiency, even as the climate becomes more extreme.
The ARC ‘Cool Buildings’ programme (CBP) addresses the pressing challenge of achieving thermal comfort in hot and humid climates. It focuses on developing, testing, and disseminating innovative passive cooling solutions that are affordable, sustainable, and adaptable to local needs. ARC is a team of volunteers led by Andrew Simmonds of Simmonds.Mills (SM), a UK-based architectural R&D firm, in partnership with the Al-Mizan Children’s Ecovillage (CEV) in Tanzania, which serves as the first of several ARC-initiated potential field-testing R&D sites in Africa and Asia. The CEV management and staff provide ARC with facilities and collaborative capacity, acting as a hub for exemplar-building demonstration, community engagement, creative problem solving, knowledge and solutions dissemination.
The project specifically targets two key markets: lower-income self-builders, who require affordable and accessible solutions to improve housing quality, and higher-income managed self-builders, who demand passive cooling innovations that can be integrated with modern building standards. By addressing the distinct needs of these market segments, the project ensures scalability and adoption across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.
By integrating robust R&D with community engagement, ARC is supporting innovative and scalable pathways to improve thermal comfort in buildings in hot and humid climates, addressing both immediate needs and long-term sustainability goals for people living in environmentally and socio-economically challenging regions. ARC solutions aim to create cool, comfortable indoor environments without the immediate need for mechanical cooling and dehumidification equipment.
However, as global temperatures rise and climate-vulnerable countries faces increasing extreme heat and intense rainfall events, there will inevitably come a point when passive cooling alone may no longer suffice in many contexts. Recognising this, our approach is to future-proof designs to allow for easier retrofit of energy-efficient mechanical cooling and dehumidification systems. This ensures that buildings designed today will not only meet the immediate needs of their occupants but also remain adaptable to future climate conditions. The solutions developed will integrate with modern mechanical systems to minimise energy consumption and operational costs, avoiding the common problem of retrofitted buildings consuming unsustainable amounts of energy. To complement ARC’s ‘passive design’ approach, we are also developing a technical brief for optimised cooling and dehumidification equipment. This brief will focus on achieving the best balance between building fabric performance and efficient management of indoor humidity and temperatures during extreme heat events. By integrating building envelope design with advanced mechanical systems, the project ensures that buildings can operate in a zero-energy, passive cooling mode for much of the time, while also allowing for a low-energy mechanical cooling mode when required. This approach maximises occupant comfort and energy efficiency, even as the climate becomes more extreme.
The ARC ‘Cool Buildings’ programme (CBP) addresses the pressing challenge of achieving thermal comfort in hot and humid climates. It focuses on developing, testing, and disseminating innovative passive cooling solutions that are affordable, sustainable, and adaptable to local needs. ARC is a team of volunteers led by Andrew Simmonds of Simmonds.Mills (SM), a UK-based architectural R&D firm, in partnership with the Al-Mizan Children’s Ecovillage (CEV) in Tanzania, which serves as the first of several ARC-initiated potential field-testing R&D sites in Africa and Asia. The CEV management and staff provide ARC with facilities and collaborative capacity, acting as a hub for exemplar-building demonstration, community engagement, creative problem solving, knowledge and solutions dissemination.
The project specifically targets two key markets: lower-income self-builders, who require affordable and accessible solutions to improve housing quality, and higher-income managed self-builders, who demand passive cooling innovations that can be integrated with modern building standards. By addressing the distinct needs of these market segments, the project ensures scalability and adoption across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.
By integrating robust R&D with community engagement, ARC is supporting innovative and scalable pathways to improve thermal comfort in buildings in hot and humid climates, addressing both immediate needs and long-term sustainability goals for people living in environmentally and socio-economically challenging regions. ARC solutions aim to create cool, comfortable indoor environments without the immediate need for mechanical cooling and dehumidification equipment.
However, as global temperatures rise and climate-vulnerable countries faces increasing extreme heat and intense rainfall events, there will inevitably come a point when passive cooling alone may no longer suffice in many contexts. Recognising this, our approach is to future-proof designs to allow for easier retrofit of energy-efficient mechanical cooling and dehumidification systems. This ensures that buildings designed today will not only meet the immediate needs of their occupants but also remain adaptable to future climate conditions. The solutions developed will integrate with modern mechanical systems to minimise energy consumption and operational costs, avoiding the common problem of retrofitted buildings consuming unsustainable amounts of energy. To complement ARC’s ‘passive design’ approach, we are also developing a technical brief for optimised cooling and dehumidification equipment. This brief will focus on achieving the best balance between building fabric performance and efficient management of indoor humidity and temperatures during extreme heat events. By integrating building envelope design with advanced mechanical systems, the project ensures that buildings can operate in a zero-energy, passive cooling mode for much of the time, while also allowing for a low-energy mechanical cooling mode when required. This approach maximises occupant comfort and energy efficiency, even as the climate becomes more extreme.
The ARC ‘Cool Buildings’ programme (CBP) addresses the pressing challenge of achieving thermal comfort in hot and humid climates. It focuses on developing, testing, and disseminating innovative passive cooling solutions that are affordable, sustainable, and adaptable to local needs. ARC is a team of volunteers led by Andrew Simmonds of Simmonds.Mills (SM), a UK-based architectural R&D firm, in partnership with the Al-Mizan Children’s Ecovillage (CEV) in Tanzania, which serves as the first of several ARC-initiated potential field-testing R&D sites in Africa and Asia. The CEV management and staff provide ARC with facilities and collaborative capacity, acting as a hub for exemplar-building demonstration, community engagement, creative problem solving, knowledge and solutions dissemination.
The project specifically targets two key markets: lower-income self-builders, who require affordable and accessible solutions to improve housing quality, and higher-income managed self-builders, who demand passive cooling innovations that can be integrated with modern building standards. By addressing the distinct needs of these market segments, the project ensures scalability and adoption across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.
By integrating robust R&D with community engagement, ARC is supporting innovative and scalable pathways to improve thermal comfort in buildings in hot and humid climates, addressing both immediate needs and long-term sustainability goals for people living in environmentally and socio-economically challenging regions. ARC solutions aim to create cool, comfortable indoor environments without the immediate need for mechanical cooling and dehumidification equipment.
However, as global temperatures rise and climate-vulnerable countries faces increasing extreme heat and intense rainfall events, there will inevitably come a point when passive cooling alone may no longer suffice in many contexts. Recognising this, our approach is to future-proof designs to allow for easier retrofit of energy-efficient mechanical cooling and dehumidification systems. This ensures that buildings designed today will not only meet the immediate needs of their occupants but also remain adaptable to future climate conditions. The solutions developed will integrate with modern mechanical systems to minimise energy consumption and operational costs, avoiding the common problem of retrofitted buildings consuming unsustainable amounts of energy. To complement ARC’s ‘passive design’ approach, we are also developing a technical brief for optimised cooling and dehumidification equipment. This brief will focus on achieving the best balance between building fabric performance and efficient management of indoor humidity and temperatures during extreme heat events. By integrating building envelope design with advanced mechanical systems, the project ensures that buildings can operate in a zero-energy, passive cooling mode for much of the time, while also allowing for a low-energy mechanical cooling mode when required. This approach maximises occupant comfort and energy efficiency, even as the climate becomes more extreme.
The ARC ‘Cool Buildings’ programme (CBP) addresses the pressing challenge of achieving thermal comfort in hot and humid climates. It focuses on developing, testing, and disseminating innovative passive cooling solutions that are affordable, sustainable, and adaptable to local needs. ARC is a team of volunteers led by Andrew Simmonds of Simmonds.Mills (SM), a UK-based architectural R&D firm, in partnership with the Al-Mizan Children’s Ecovillage (CEV) in Tanzania, which serves as the first of several ARC-initiated potential field-testing R&D sites in Africa and Asia. The CEV management and staff provide ARC with facilities and collaborative capacity, acting as a hub for exemplar-building demonstration, community engagement, creative problem solving, knowledge and solutions dissemination.
The project specifically targets two key markets: lower-income self-builders, who require affordable and accessible solutions to improve housing quality, and higher-income managed self-builders, who demand passive cooling innovations that can be integrated with modern building standards. By addressing the distinct needs of these market segments, the project ensures scalability and adoption across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.
By integrating robust R&D with community engagement, ARC is supporting innovative and scalable pathways to improve thermal comfort in buildings in hot and humid climates, addressing both immediate needs and long-term sustainability goals for people living in environmentally and socio-economically challenging regions. ARC solutions aim to create cool, comfortable indoor environments without the immediate need for mechanical cooling and dehumidification equipment.
However, as global temperatures rise and climate-vulnerable countries faces increasing extreme heat and intense rainfall events, there will inevitably come a point when passive cooling alone may no longer suffice in many contexts. Recognising this, our approach is to future-proof designs to allow for easier retrofit of energy-efficient mechanical cooling and dehumidification systems. This ensures that buildings designed today will not only meet the immediate needs of their occupants but also remain adaptable to future climate conditions. The solutions developed will integrate with modern mechanical systems to minimise energy consumption and operational costs, avoiding the common problem of retrofitted buildings consuming unsustainable amounts of energy. To complement ARC’s ‘passive design’ approach, we are also developing a technical brief for optimised cooling and dehumidification equipment. This brief will focus on achieving the best balance between building fabric performance and efficient management of indoor humidity and temperatures during extreme heat events. By integrating building envelope design with advanced mechanical systems, the project ensures that buildings can operate in a zero-energy, passive cooling mode for much of the time, while also allowing for a low-energy mechanical cooling mode when required. This approach maximises occupant comfort and energy efficiency, even as the climate becomes more extreme.
The ARC ‘Cool Buildings’ programme (CBP) addresses the pressing challenge of achieving thermal comfort in hot and humid climates. It focuses on developing, testing, and disseminating innovative passive cooling solutions that are affordable, sustainable, and adaptable to local needs. ARC is a team of volunteers led by Andrew Simmonds of Simmonds.Mills (SM), a UK-based architectural R&D firm, in partnership with the Al-Mizan Children’s Ecovillage (CEV) in Tanzania, which serves as the first of several ARC-initiated potential field-testing R&D sites in Africa and Asia. The CEV management and staff provide ARC with facilities and collaborative capacity, acting as a hub for exemplar-building demonstration, community engagement, creative problem solving, knowledge and solutions dissemination.
The project specifically targets two key markets: lower-income self-builders, who require affordable and accessible solutions to improve housing quality, and higher-income managed self-builders, who demand passive cooling innovations that can be integrated with modern building standards. By addressing the distinct needs of these market segments, the project ensures scalability and adoption across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.
By integrating robust R&D with community engagement, ARC is supporting innovative and scalable pathways to improve thermal comfort in buildings in hot and humid climates, addressing both immediate needs and long-term sustainability goals for people living in environmentally and socio-economically challenging regions. ARC solutions aim to create cool, comfortable indoor environments without the immediate need for mechanical cooling and dehumidification equipment.
However, as global temperatures rise and climate-vulnerable countries faces increasing extreme heat and intense rainfall events, there will inevitably come a point when passive cooling alone may no longer suffice in many contexts. Recognising this, our approach is to future-proof designs to allow for easier retrofit of energy-efficient mechanical cooling and dehumidification systems. This ensures that buildings designed today will not only meet the immediate needs of their occupants but also remain adaptable to future climate conditions. The solutions developed will integrate with modern mechanical systems to minimise energy consumption and operational costs, avoiding the common problem of retrofitted buildings consuming unsustainable amounts of energy. To complement ARC’s ‘passive design’ approach, we are also developing a technical brief for optimised cooling and dehumidification equipment. This brief will focus on achieving the best balance between building fabric performance and efficient management of indoor humidity and temperatures during extreme heat events. By integrating building envelope design with advanced mechanical systems, the project ensures that buildings can operate in a zero-energy, passive cooling mode for much of the time, while also allowing for a low-energy mechanical cooling mode when required. This approach maximises occupant comfort and energy efficiency, even as the climate becomes more extreme.