Rural Cooling Needs Assessment towards Designing Community Cooling Hubs: Case Studies from Maharashtra, India

Kumar Biswajit Debnath,Mahesh Patankar,Sanskriti Menon,Gaurang Patwardhan,Priyanka Shendage,Toby Peters,Navneet Wadkar,Satish Awate,Xinfang Wang

doi:10.3390/su13105595

Kumar Biswajit Debnath, Mahesh Patankar + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105595

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Abstract

In a rapidly warming world, sustainable cooling is directly related to the protection of fresh and nutritious food, medicines, and the population from extreme heat for work conditions, the economic productivity of the working population, and income generation. This study aimed to understand how rural communities are meeting their nutrition, livelihood, health, living space, and mobility requirements regarding the role of cooling. We selected three villages as case studies in Maharashtra, India and conducted household surveys, in-depth interviews of key informants, focus group discussions (FGDs), and social mapping building typology study. The objective was to assess the rural community cooling to propose a community cooling hub (CCH) framework that could be economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable for the three villages. Our study showed that agriculture, dairy, buildings (domestic and commercial), and healthcare require cooling intervention in the studied communities. Based on the needs assessment for cooling, we proposed a CCH framework to provide cooling solutions in an integrated system for rural contexts.

Highlights

Cooling is inter-linked with several aspects of human health and well-being and is increasingly becoming an essential service in our warming world [1,2]
Due to the development of dairy cooperatives and integrated supply chains; Domestic and workspace cooling by fans once electricity access has been enabled, while the changes in building materials and construction techniques are likely rapidly driving up cooling demand, and there is a considerable lack of awareness about the health impacts of heat; The cold chain for the vaccine is due to the tremendous push from the central government and associated agencies under the Universal Immunization Programme and the Extended Programme for Immunisation
Packhouses and agri-produce cooling facilities close to the villages would improve children’s nutritional status since adding vegetables to the mid-day meal may become much easier for schools

Summary

Introduction

Cooling is inter-linked with several aspects of human health and well-being and is increasingly becoming an essential service in our warming world [1,2]. The protection of fresh and nutritious food [3], medicines, and the population from extreme heat is essential for the human race’s survival. Nowadays, cooling has become directly related to work conditions, the working population’s economic productivity, and income generation [4]. Enabling universal access to cooling is a multifaceted challenge as fulfilling cooling needs for human well-being may increase energy demand and direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet these needs and cause ozone depletion of refrigerant used by the technologies. The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol regulates refrigerants’. The protocols recognise the link between refrigerant transition and the energy efficiency of air-conditioning equipment

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