How a UNEP non-profit makes Cooling As A Service ‘cool’

‘As-a-service’ models are quite prominent in the global economy, especially in the software and communications sectors. But one Swiss nonprofit is extrapolating that model and deploying it globally to tackle one of the most pressing problems of our time: global warming.

BASE or Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy, a specialized partner of the United Nations Environment Programme, is busy advocating ‘Cooling as a Service’ or CaaS worldwide.

“We believe it is an innovative business model that enables a wide range of refrigeration end users to base their decisions on life cycle costs rather than the purchase price of refrigeration equipment,” said Daniel Magallon, Managing Director of BASE.

The non-profit organization believes that following the CaaS path would encourage and accelerate the deployment of high-quality energy-efficient cooling technologies without the need for high upfront investments, or opting for a cheaper but less efficient system to save costs.

Why it matters?

Magallon said the CaaS model BASE is promoting involves end users paying for the cooling they receive, rather than for the physical product or infrastructure that provides the cooling.

“The idea, which can be deployed worldwide, is simple: a cooling technology provider in a specific region installs (and maintains) the cooling equipment and recovers the costs through periodic payments by the customer.”

The payment model typically includes a fixed unit charge for the cooling service provided, based on actual usage (for example, dollars per ton of cooling or units of refrigerated air).

“The provider also pays for the electricity consumption of the equipment, which is an incentive to install the most energy-efficient equipment and perform high-quality maintenance. That makes the difference.”

According to the The International Energy Agency’s ‘Future of Cooling’ report cooling represents 10% of global electricity consumption – equivalent to 2.5 times Africa’s electricity consumption. If household and industrial fans are included in the mix in addition to air conditioners, this figure rises to 20%.

Demand is expected to triple by 2050. The average efficiency of refrigeration systems sold today is less than half of what is typically available on the shelves – and a third of the best technology available.

Therefore, the potential for energy and cost savings by 2050 is enormous, reaching trillions of dollars by some estimates, according to BASE.

“And refrigeration is something we cannot live without on a warming planet. In many regions, refrigeration is not just a comfort, but a means of survival with air conditioning and refrigeration necessary for habitable living conditions, food security and life-saving healthcare,” said Magallon.

“Now imagine a scenario where a solution provides both a cost-saving measure and an efficient cooling path. That’s CaaS for you.”

Get noticed

While the basic principles of pay-per-use are clear, BASE is working together to develop tools to enable the model, from contracts to pricing instruments, from financial structures to promotional materials that communicate value to potential customers.

The project also involves working with manufacturers and contractors to test the model. “We are currently implementing the model in Grenada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa and India,” says Dimitris Karamitsos, CaaS project leader at BASE.

BASE’s work and the CaaS model have certainly not gone unnoticed. The nonprofit is among the three finalists in the energy category for the Zayed Sustainability Prize 2026, awarded by the United Arab Emirates for innovative solutions to global challenges.

UNEP’s Cool Coalition considers it a valuable partner. In 2019, the year of its launch, the Global innovation lab for climate finance recognized CaaS as the most innovative and useful financial instrument to scale climate change mitigation investments for sustainable cities.

Such accolades and recognitions serve as a great source of motivation for a nonprofit organization like BASE, Magallon said.

“Winning the Zayed Sustainability Prize would allow us to scale our impact in more markets and reach the communities that need it most. What we are trying to do with CaaS is to build a global ecosystem with multiple participants, countless use cases and the joy of providing a fresh and tangible solution to a common problem.”

It is a problem that is increasing in emerging markets. “Examples from India to Nigeria come to mind where access to refrigeration is a growing social and environmental challenge, especially with a critical need to strengthen cold chains in rural areas to protect local farmers,” Karamitsos added.

“We have proven examples of how fresh agricultural and dairy products were prevented from going to waste through cost-effective CaaS modeled services from local suppliers we work with.”

And it’s not just about helping farmers in emerging markets secure their harvests, but about helping small businesses grow sustainably, and helping communities adapt to rising temperatures.

BASE claims the model has catalyzed more than $160 million in annual investments in sustainable cooling technologies to date, saving 130 GWh of electricity and avoiding 81,000 tons of CO₂ emissions per year.

“Ultimately it is about persuasion and changing mindsets. We are convinced of the power of the model and believe this is the future of cost-effective and efficient cooling, wherever the end customer is,” concludes Magallon.