By Anne Levin
Just in time for the latest heat wave, a new technology that provides relief from scorching temperatures — in an open-air pavilion rather than an enclosed space — is debuting in Trenton.
This cooling method is a collaboration of Isles, the community development nonprofit; Princeton University; and Clearly-Cool, a Hopewell research and development lab. A radiantly cooled park bench has been installed in a pavilion at Isles’ Tucker Street Urban Demonstration Garden, 33 Tucker Street.
“We’re protecting people from the heat in open spaces using a fraction of the energy of conventional air conditioning,” said Eric Teitelbaum co-founder of Clearly-Cool. “We’re actually better than shade, so that’s exciting.”
Trenton is among the first communities in the country to bring this technology to a public space. A media preview is being held on Thursday, July 16, and residents can test the technology out during garden hours on Wednesdays from 4-8 p.m. through the end of July.
Powered by solar panels installed by Isles Youth Institute students, the pavilion works in a way that regular air conditioning cannot. Instead of cooling the air, the technology cools people directly by pulling away the heat that surrounding hot surfaces radiate toward the body. That means that someone sitting underneath the pavilion on a 95-degree day feels the same as sitting under an ordinary awning when it is 85 degrees.
Teitelbaum dates development of the technology back to 2016-17, when he was working on his doctorate at Princeton University’s CHAOS lab. “We were looking at ways to keep people comfortable during times of extreme heat that didn’t use conventional air conditioning,” he said.
Extreme heat is dangerous, especially for those who work or spend most of their time outdoors. Dense cities like Trenton— where pavement, rooftops, and concrete soak up the sun and radiate it back — are particularly vulnerable.
“What excites us about this technology is that it protects people right where they are, in a garden or at a bus stop, without shutting them inside an air-conditioned box,” said Laura Fenster Rothschild, Isles COO, in a press release. “We are proud to bring it to Trenton first.”
Andrew Lowenstein, president of Clearly-Cool, added, “Radiant cooling does something air conditioning cannot. It keeps people safe outdoors without enclosing them. Trenton is exactly where this technology should prove itself, and Isles is the right partner to put it in front of the people who need it.”
The July 16 demonstration is a preview of a larger, two-year project. With support from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ Urban Heat Island Mitigation Program, Isles and Clearly-Cool will install two more radiantly cooled park benches at sites across Trenton: Roberto Clemente Park and the corner of North Warren and East Lafayette streets. Isles’ Trenton Community Corps and the Johnson Center for Learning & Impact will lead community engagement, gathering resident input on where the benches go and surveying park users to measure real-world relief.
“There is something powerful about our students powering this,” said Chantea Hobson, director of Isles Youth Institute. “The same young people learning solar skills that will build their careers are supplying the clean energy that keeps their neighbors safe from the heat. That is what this work is about.”
Another opportunity to examine the technology is the Sourland Mountain Festival at Unionville Vineyards in Ringoes on July 25, when Clearly-Cool will mount an exhibit.