Assessing the Effect of Cool Roofs on Health Using Smartwatches

Ambient air temperatures in Asian, Latin American, African, and Pacific climate hotspots have broken record highs in 2024. Solutions are needed to build heat resilience in communities and adapt to increasing heat from climate change. Sunlight-reflecting cool roof coatings may passively reduce indoor temperatures and energy use to protect home occupants from extreme heat. Occupants living in poor housing conditions globally - for example in informal settlements, slums, and low-socioeconomic households - are susceptible to increased heat exposure. Heat exposure can instigate and worsen numerous physical, mental and social health conditions. The worst adverse health effects are experienced in communities that are least able to adapt to heat exposure. By reducing indoor temperatures, cool roof application may improve heart health, sleep and physical activity in household occupants. The long-term research goal is to identify viable passive housing adaptation technologies with proven health benefits to reduce the burden of heat stress in communities affected by heat globally. To meet this goal, the investigators will use smartwatches to measure the effects cool roof application on heart health, sleep and physical activity in four urban climate hotspots: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Hermosillo, Mexico; Ahmedabad, India; and Niue, Oceania.

NCT Number	NCT06579963
Lead Sponsor	Aditi Bunker Collaborators: Sika Services AG, SOPREMA, Engineered Polymer Solutions (EPS B.V.), Resene, Pacific Community, Habitat for Humanity, The Tindall Foundation, Labfront, Instituto Tecnológico de Hermosillo, University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Indian Institute of Public Health, India, Boston University, Rutgers University, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Heidelberg University
Conditions	Heart Rate, All-day Steps, Distance Walked, Active Minutes, Moderate-intensity Activity Minutes, Vigorous-intensity Activity Duration, Sleep Quantity, Time in Sleep Stages +2 more
Enrollment	800 participants
Start Date	2024-09-04
Primary Completion	2027-09-01 (estimated)
Study Completion	2027-09-01 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-02-27