Developing sustainable, affordable and scalable materials for the next generation of passive cooling technologies.
The challenge is not simply finding highly reflective materials. The real challenge is finding materials that meet many demands at once — performing reliably in the sun and weather, remaining affordable for the communities that need them most, and doing no harm to the environment across their entire lifecycle.
This research continues to evolve as new ideas, new manufacturing methods and new scientific evidence emerge. It is a long-term programme rather than a fixed catalogue of products.
Rather than describing individual proprietary materials, the programme is organised around broad themes that shape how MEER approaches materials science.
Research into materials with lower environmental impact and lower embodied carbon than conventional alternatives.
Investigating how waste streams and existing materials may be reused or repurposed within passive cooling technologies.
Exploring ways to transform discarded or low-value materials into components that may contribute to future cooling systems.
Investigating renewable and plant-derived materials that could eventually contribute to lightweight structural systems and other future applications.
Reducing material mass while maintaining structural performance, durability and manufacturability.
The ongoing search for reflective materials that combine long operational life with strong environmental performance under real-world conditions.
Every material moves through the same iterative pathway, from an initial question through laboratory work and into instrumented field deployments. What is learned in the field flows back into the laboratory.
A scientific or engineering question is defined.
Candidate materials are shortlisted against multiple criteria.
Optical, thermal and durability behaviour are characterised.
Materials are integrated into engineered components.
Prototypes are installed and instrumented in real environments.
Long-term data is collected and analysed.
Learnings feed back into the next iteration.
Material selection is not judged by any single number. It considers impacts and responsibilities across the entire lifecycle — from sourcing through recovery.
Where materials come from and how they are extracted or grown.
How components are made and the impacts of that production.
How materials move to where they are needed.
How systems are installed in the real world.
How long they perform reliably in service.
What is needed to keep them working over time.
How materials are recovered when they are retired.
How recovered materials re-enter the cycle.
The cycle is intentionally drawn as a loop: what leaves the system should, wherever possible, return to it.
A modest gain in reflectivity, durability or embodied carbon does not stay at the material scale — it multiplies across every surface, every deployment and every year of service.
How much heat a surface reflects and emits.
How reliably it performs over years of exposure.
Whether communities can actually access it.
Whether it can be produced at meaningful volumes.
Its footprint across the full lifecycle.
How readily people can install and maintain it.
MEER shares the direction, philosophy and objectives of its materials research openly. Confidential engineering details remain protected so the programme can continue to develop responsibly.
Reflective and radiative coatings applied to buildings and settlements.
ExploreHow selective materials emit heat through the atmospheric window into space.
ExploreEngineered reflective surfaces protecting reservoirs, canals and industrial water.
ExploreLightweight shading structures for streets, playgrounds and open spaces.
ExploreHow material choices influence long-term energy, cost and climate return.
ExploreField instrumentation that validates how materials perform in the real world.
ExploreRather than promising specific products, MEER’s objective is to develop materials that meet a demanding combination of criteria. Innovation is driven by rigorous testing, continuous refinement and collaboration across multiple scientific disciplines.
Materials evaluated across their whole lifecycle, not one dimension.
Affordable enough for the communities most affected by heat.
Backed by laboratory characterisation and field measurement.
Realistic pathways to manufacture and deploy at meaningful volumes.
If cooling technologies are to reach the scale the climate requires, the materials that build them must be sustainable, affordable and scientifically validated. That is the work of this programme.