Materials, Mood, and Heatproof Living episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 22, 2026 · 53 MIN

Materials, Mood, and Heatproof Living

from Room to Think · host Lyssia Katan

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Tim Sperry, a material scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur rethinking how the built environment affects the way we live. From developing the first air purifying paint to creating heat reflective coatings through his company CoolCoated, Tim has spent his career asking a question most people in the industry never think to ask: what if the materials around us are doing more harm than we realize?The conversation breaks down why heat is one of the most overlooked forces shaping how we feel at home and in public spaces, how the colors and materials on the outside of a building quietly affect the temperature inside, and why so much of what we build is designed for aesthetics rather than human comfort. They explore the urban heat island effect and why cities are often far hotter than the weather suggests, how cool roofs went from a niche idea to a $20 billion industry almost overnight, what the average homeowner can actually do to make their space cooler and more livable, and why the conversation around wellness has never properly included the thermal experience of a space.Tim also shares what years of researching passive cooling technologies has taught him about the relationship between heat, behavior, and the way we connect with the people and places around us, and the one change he would make to how we build if he could start over.By the end of this episode, you may realize that a lot of what you have written off as the weather, your mood, or just the way things are, is actually a design problem — and one that is more solvable than you think. Not because the technology is out of reach, but because nobody ever told you it existed.More Room to Think:Tim Sperry / CoolCoated Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coolcoated.co/Room to Think https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/Loved this episode? Let us know!Subscribe to Room to ThinkIf you enjoyed this episode, leave a review and share it with someone who would appreciate a more thoughtful approach to their space. New episodes every week. Build a better life by design.Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Instagram

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jun 22, 2026

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In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Tim Sperry, a material scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur rethinking how the built environment affects the way we live. From developing the first air purifying paint to creating heat reflective coatings through his company CoolCoated, Tim has spent his career asking a question most people in the industry never think to ask: what if the materials around us are doing more harm than we realize? The conversation breaks down why heat is one of the most ove...

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Materials, Mood, and Heatproof Living

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