Delhi

Environment, Energy

Outline India undertook a baseline evaluation which seeked to capture current the roofing conditions and the benefits of cool roofing technology for a peri-urban settlement area in New Delhi.

Indian peri-urban settlements are often constructed with materials that are heat-absorbing, requiring additional energy to cool down the premises. As a result, slum communities often end up using cooling fans and air coolers for hours a day, raising their energy bills, especially during summers. In response to this, the University of Chicago implemented an RCT, which sought to counter this issue in one of Delhi's peri-urban resettlements to reduce home temperatures. The Cool roofing technology being used was designed to maintain a lower roof temperature than traditional roofs since they have been designed to reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat than a standard roof. The project aimed to also mobilize communities to generate awareness of the benefits of using cool roof technologies by providing training on the use of this product as the improved indoor environment is anticipated to reduce exposure to extreme heat and a reduction in household energy costs.

Our study sought to understand how the Cool Roofing technology could impact the well-being of the users, and also aid in reducing their electrical consumption thereby allowing poor households to increase spending on food, health, and education, resulting in improvements of their quality of life. For this study, Outline India conducted surveys with 1500 residents (targeting the household head) to determine their demographic characteristics, health and wellbeing, as well as the infrastructure available to the community. Revisits to were also included for the study. 

As Outline India was responsible for the end-to-end management of the data collection process, back checks and spot checks were undertaken by our researchers, who were present on the field throughout the duration of the data collection as part of quality assurance protocols to ensure that questions are not skipped and all surveys are conducted as per the protocols. Additionally, the data collected was monitored closely thereby providing the client with daily updates and weekly check-in pertaining to all field activities. In addition to the data collection activities, Outline India also undertook the tool review, tool translation, development of survey manuals, and conducted in-depth training for supervisors and field enumerators on survey tools, use of digital devices, and ethical research protocols.