The 10X PRIZE is a new competition aimed at identifying innovative clean cooling solutions for communities most impacted by extreme heat.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rae Ulrich
Tempe, Arizona – Arizona State University’s Ten Across Initiative has launched a new student competition, the 10X PRIZE Clean Cooling Student Competition, designed to inspire the development of innovative clean cooling solutions to address the impacts of extreme heat on the disadvantaged communities most impacted across the southern U.S. eight state Ten Across region. Five semi-finalist teams will be selected to present their solutions to a panel of expert judges, with the winning team’s solution receiving a $100K grand prize, a portion of which will be used to prototype the solution in a specified community of need. The remaining four semi-finalist teams will each receive $10K, and a $10K Peoples’ Choice award will also be awarded.
The “Intent to Apply” deadline is November 15, 2023, and the final application deadline is January 31, 2024. The grand prize, semi-finalists, and People’s Choice awards will be announced March 8, 2024.
As global temperatures continue to rise at record-breaking levels, demand for cooling—primarily air conditioning and refrigeration—is expected to triple by 2050. Today’s cooling technologies strain energy grids and release super-polluting greenhouse gases, damaging our climate and warming the planet. Current cooling solutions are often cost-prohibitive to many low-income communities or for those who don’t have stable or heat-resilient housing options.
“Current conventional cooling appliances can be major contributors to climate change, so it is critical that we find improved ways to sustainably cool as we face extreme heat. Whether mechanical, passive, or policy-driven, new options need to be responsive to local conditions and communities where creative thinking and adaptive problem solving will be required” –Axum Teferra, Senior Associate Director of the Clean Cooling Collaborative
To ensure solutions are designed to thoughtfully address communities in most need, the competition requires faculty-led student teams to work with an identified community partner to inform solutions and if selected, help implement a prototype solution for the identified community. The winning team’s community partner will also be awarded a $50K prize to compensate the organization for their planning and implementation support.
“Young people today are presented with sobering challenges in the face of climate change. They see the evidence, understand the trajectory, and want to bend the curve toward a more sustainable future. This competition, in support of ASU’s mission and charter, is designed to empower and inspire students to creatively and collaboratively address the critical challenge of cooling without further exacerbating carbon emissions. We look forward to seeing the novel solutions students will be submitting. ”—Wellington “Duke” Reiter, Executive Director, Ten Across Initiative
This competition is made possible through a generous sponsorship from the Clean Cooling Collaborative, a philanthropic initiative of the ClimateWorks Foundation, working to create a future with efficient, climate-friendly cooling for all.
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About Ten Across
Positioned on the front lines of demographic, social, economic, and climate change, the U.S. I-10 corridor presents the challenges of the 21st Century in their highest relief providing an ideal observatory for the national as a whole, one trained on critical trendlines and our capacity to respond to a knowable future. Ten Across, leverages this living observatory to convene, educate, and communicate diverse perspectives to better share information and to inspire proactive decision-making for a more resilient and sustainable future for all.
About the Clean Cooling Collaborative
The Clean Cooling Collaborative is an initiative of ClimateWorks Foundation focused on transforming the cooling sector and making efficient, climate-friendly cooling for all a reality.
