July 4 – Brazil 2014 World Cup summer fever has bumped heads with the much-talked about June heat in Qatar. But not all fans have been getting hot under the collar as Qatar 2022 organisers have been testing cooling technology in an open air fan zone in Katera, Doha.
Last Saturday night, when the Brazil vs Colombia game kicked off at 7pm local time, the temperature outside of the fan zone in Katara was 33ºC. For those inside the temperature was 20ºC.
The technology, developed in conjunction with Aspire Zone, used four strategically place cooling columns that feed cooled air into the fan zone. The system is able to responds to different climatic conditions delivering cooled air via ventilation units, jet nozzles and cooling mist that “enhances the evaporative cooling effect”.
Aspire Zone is also developing cooling technology for training pitches.
The Brazil 2014 Fan Zone has a capacity of 1,500 people and features a range of activities – as well as reportedly the biggest outdoor video screen in the Middle East.
The next stage for the scientists is to improve the energy efficiency as well as find ways to transfer the technology into a number of other, non-football related, environmental projects.
Ghanim Al Kuwari, Competition Venue Director of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy said: “We have worked hard to prove this technology is real and exists today. Qatar has already proved we can cool football stadiums. The next step is to demonstrate our capabilities of cooling open air public spaces.”
If the technology can be realistically scaled to cool large public places and areas where fans will gather, then the debate over whether the World Cup should be played in Summer or Winter in 2022 could turn out to be a lot of hot air.
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