Cool the Person, Not Just the Space

What if the most human-centered innovation in construction isn't software, a robot, or a platform, but what workers are wearing on the job?In this September takeover episode of KP Unpacked, guest host Tyler Sellhorn sits down with Tiffany Yeh, CEO of Eztia and Forbes 30 Under 30, ahead of her appearance at AEC Summit on October 19th in Brooklyn. Tiffany walked away from medical residency to build HydraVolt, a cooling gel worn as apparel that drops skin temperature roughly 10 degrees Celsius for up to eight hours, with no batteries, no maintenance, and no infrastructure required. It is already in the field with construction crews, logistics teams, and public safety officers, backed by a $4M seed round led by Shadow Ventures.The conversation covers why Tiffany chose to cool people instead of spaces, how her mission was shaped by living in global health settings where air conditioning was never an option, and why the hydrogel technology behind HydraVolt was originally developed to passively cool buildings and store vaccines during COVID. The thread running through all of it: technology should serve all of society, not just the people who can afford the infrastructure. And the orchestra doesn't sound good unless every instrument is playing in tune.Key questions answered:Why did Tiffany walk away from medical residency to build a cooling apparel company?What is HydraVolt and how does it drop skin temperature 10 degrees with no batteries?Why did Eztia choose to cool people instead of buildings?How does mission shape product trade-offs in resource-constrained environments?What does human-centered innovation actually look like on a construction jobsite?How did vaccine cold chain research during COVID lead to wearable cooling technology?Why does Tiffany believe technology should be accessible to people without infrastructure?What does a soccer team have to do with how startups should think about jobsite adoption?How do you sell to the safety team, the sustainability team, and the individual worker all at once?What does stadium design have to do with personal cooling strategy?What would Tiffany build if resources were unlimited?What does project success as a team sport mean when every player has different goals?If you're in construction wondering how to keep crews safe and productive in extreme heat, a founder thinking about how mission shapes product decisions, or just curious what happens when a materials engineer and MD walks away from medicine to solve a global problem, this episode will make you rethink what human-centered innovation actually looks like from the ground up.Listen now.Catch Tiffany live at AEC Summit on October 19th at the Weylin in Brooklyn.