Cooler housing areas.
Safer shifts.
On September 22, 2026 a federal court ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to bring air-conditioning to all 104 of its facilities by December 31, 2029. New equipment takes years to design and build. EnigMAT™ can go in now — under roofs and on walls — and lowers the heat in every housing area where it is installed: before the equipment arrives, and after.
Sources: TDCJ air-conditioning construction projects page (updated September 1, 2026); Texas press reports of September 22, 2026; TDCJ FY2025 Statistical Report (138,901 inmates on hand).
Better conditions for inmates and officers — from the day of installation.
A housing area is a home around the clock for the people held there, and a workplace for the officers, nurses, cooks, teachers and maintenance crews on every shift. Heat reaches all of them. Choose a region to see what EnigMAT does in one dorm that has no air-conditioning.
TDCJ units near Huntsville: . EnigMAT installed .
hours a year above 85 °F in the dorm —
night hours (10 pm – 6 am) above 85 °F — cooler nights, better rest
day-shift hours (6 am – 6 pm) above 85 °F inside the housing area
indoor peak on a heat-wave day, when it is – °F outside
Bar = share of the 8,760 hours in a year. In Huntsville the outdoor air reaches 95 °F on about – days a year and 100 °F on about – (2015–2024 records).
Show the hour-by-hour numbers
Every ton removed is a ton nobody has to buy.
Where air-conditioning is still to come, EnigMAT lowers the peak the new equipment must be sized for. Where it already exists, it runs less. In Huntsville, one 10,000 sq ft dorm cooled to 85 °F needs – tons at the peak of the design heat-wave day — – tons with EnigMAT (−–%).
- Works in the summers of 2027 and 2028 — while the construction program is still under way.
- No power, no controls, no moving parts — nothing to maintain, nothing to tamper with.
- Transition point chosen for the climate — here 82 °F, selected by the model for these conditions.
The same dorm in five TDCJ regions — peak cooling on the design heat-wave day
The five regions in numbers
Behind the finishes. Out of reach. Out of sight.
EnigMAT is laid above ceilings, supported under roof decks or fixed inside wall linings. Nothing is exposed in the living areas, and every finish stays to the Department's security standards.
- Dry installation — no wet work, no curing, no odors; housing areas stay in use.
- Retrofit-first — over existing concrete decks, metal roofs and masonry walls.
- Fire-safe — Class A surface-burning rating under ASTM E84 (Flame Spread Index 5, Smoke-Developed Index 5); the mineral-salt core does not burn.
- Non-toxic — naturally occurring mineral elements, sealed in a durable foil laminate.
Details are designed with the facilities team for each building type — dorms, cell blocks, metal-roof buildings — and code compliance is confirmed with the State Fire Marshal's Office during the pilot.
A pilot in one or two housing areas — results in time for the Court.
- SelectOne or two housing areas and a matched control area in the same unit.
- InstallEnigMAT with the transition point chosen for the unit's climate, installed dry, without moving anyone.
- MeasureTemperature and humidity logged every 15 minutes in treated and control areas, day and night.
- ReportSide-by-side results for the Department — in time for the first status report of March 22, 2027.
How these numbers are made. Modeled estimates, not measurements. The modeled dorm: one story, 10,000 sq ft (about 100 beds), 12 ft ceiling, concrete/masonry envelope with light insulation (R-6), existing windows on 5% of the walls, occupied 24/7, cooled to the 65–85 °F range Texas applies to county jails. Weather: ERA5 reanalysis records for 2015–2024 at each location (monthly means and design extremes). Model: the building energy simulation behind the EnigMAT configurator, unchanged. It does not model humidity or mechanical outdoor air, which EnigMAT does not reduce, so the page shows the heat removed, not a share of a utility bill. A measured pilot replaces these estimates with data from the Department's own buildings.