The proposed research project addresses the objective of helping protect the health of Canadians through advancing innovations for energy efficient cooling technologies, such as the cooling potential of natural infrastructures. It has been internationally recognized that summertime overheating is becoming a concern with major impacts on energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and occupants’ health due to more frequent heat waves as a result of climate change. It is well known that the global climate has been consistently warming over the past decades and is projected to worsen in the future. Furthermore, extreme climate events such as heat waves are projected to increase in frequency and intensity. Overheating of building interior spaces as may arise from such climate change and extreme heat events has been identified as a major concern to the comfort and health of building occupants particularly of the vulnerable people such as the elderly, children, the physically challenged or the sick.