Gel-based cooling wear trialled in Singapore can potentially reduce body heat by 9 deg C

SINGAPORE – To combat the relentless humidity in Singapore, the answer may be a special jelly-like material speckled on the underside of clothing.

Climate-tech firm Eztia Materials has created beads of water-based gel that can absorb the body’s heat and potentially reduce a person’s skin temperature by as much as 9 deg C, the company said.

Its solution for heat stress was one of several that were showcased at the Building and Construction Authority’s technology exchange event on May 22, which brought together government agencies, construction firms and tech companies to explore innovations that can protect workers from rising heat.

The solutions were focused on trackers, wearables and harnessing artificial intelligence to alert supervisors about potential heat stress cases on site.

Eztia was founded in California in 2022 and expanded to Singapore in 2025. That year, the company became a finalist of Temasek Foundation’s The Liveability Challenge and won the Dimension X Award at Slingshot 2025 – a deep tech start-up pitching competition in Singapore.

Mr Darryl Tan, Asia-Pacific market lead for Eztia, said: “(The cooling wear) reduces your skin temperature by up to 9 deg C in the first couple of minutes, and this temperature difference is sustained over the next six to eight hours.”

When the body tries to cool down, blood flow to the skin increases, and the heat carried by the blood is lost to the air. Another method of releasing heat is through perspiration when sweat evaporates from the skin. But in a highly humid environment, this process is less effective.

The cooling technology behind Eztia’s gel, HydraVolt, absorbs the skin’s heat, and water in the gel slowly evaporates, making the skin feel cooler.

After several hours of use, the gel will get flatter, and needs a refuel.

Unlike other cooling suits powered by batteries or charging, Eztia’s garment just needs to be tossed into the washing machine or soaked in water to be used again.

The company currently produces four types of garments – an inner-wear singlet that outdoor workers put on before wearing their uniform, arm sleeves, a bandana and a scarf-like wrap.

The singlet costs US$57 (S$73), while a pair of arm sleeves costs US$37 and a cooling bandana goes for US$25. Companies can order the items via e-mail at hello@eztia.health.

Each piece of garment can last between three and six months before it needs to be replaced.

Mr Tan said it is possible to lower the garments’ cost over time through economies of scale if more worksites or defence personnel adopt them.

Eztia is currently testing its invention at a few worksites and companies. One of them is the NS Square construction site in Marina Bay, in partnership with the contractor Expand Construction. Temasek Foundation’s Facebook page stated that the cooling wear is also being piloted by PSA Singapore.

The pilot at NS Square started in early 2025. Around 10 workers in various roles, including safety workers and engineers, have used the cooling wear.

The skin temperature of a worker without the cooling attire was 34.8 deg C. At the same time and place, another worker who was wearing Eztia’s attire had a lower temperature of 30.8 deg C, said Mr Asher Lum, assistant project director at Expand.

Eztia also improved its prototypes in 2025 after taking in workers’ feedback. In the previous version of HydraVolt, the gel beads were harder and more rubber-like, which felt bumpy and uncomfortable for the workers. The arm sleeves also had a zip.

For the current version, a softening agent was added to the gel to make the beads more jelly-like.

Workers felt an immediate cooling sensation and better endurance while doing intense physical work, said Mr Lum, who hopes that more employers will adopt the cooling garment so that its price will fall.

“We saw various cooling suits, some battery-operated, others with fans. We were a bit concerned about those because the gear might be heavier for the workers, batteries may catch fire, and if they knock against anything, they can get seriously injured,” he added.

At the tech exchange, Ms Jaime Lim, director of the Ministry of Manpower’s major hazards and occupational safety and health specialist department, said in a presentation that the ministry is looking into cooling vests for road marshals.