Epic Group
Designing a factory campus for extreme heat and flooding
Climate-related operational risk: Extreme heat, flooding, worker heat stress and cooling demand
Solution pathway: Climate-responsive factory design, insulation, cooling systems, landscaping, water systems and energy systems
Business type: Large manufacturer 
Sector: Apparel and textile manufacturing
Geography: Odisha, India
In practice
Epic Group’s Trimetro campus in Odisha was designed with these risks in mind. Rather than retrofitting an existing site after repeated disruption, the company built climate resilience into the factory design. The campus uses building orientation, insulation, green space, shading, water systems and energy systems to reduce exposure to extreme heat and support reliable operations.
The case shows how facilities can be designed not only for today’s operating conditions, but for the hotter, more disrupted conditions expected over the lifetime of the asset. This is particularly important for manufacturing sites, where buildings, machinery, worker safety and production processes are closely connected.
Why this example was selected
This case study was selected because Epic Group’s Trimetro campus has received significant third-party validation as a model for sustainable and climate-responsive garment manufacturing. The project was supported in part by International Finance Corporation (IFC) through a $100 million debt financing package provided in 2024. This included a US$70 million sustainability-linked loan and a US$30 million green loan, to support its expansion in Bangladesh and the construction of the new manufacturing facility in India. IFC described this as its first green loan with sustainability-linked features in the manufacturing sector, signalling external confidence in the company’s approach to future-ready textile manufacturing.
The case is also strongly aligned with current climate-risk evidence for the apparel sector. NYU Stern’s 2026 report identifies extreme heat as a serious threat to worker safety and supply-chain resilience in garment manufacturing, while Cornell GLI and Schroders’ research highlights extreme heat and flooding as major risks for apparel production hubs. Trimetro has also been profiled by Vogue as a purpose-built factory designed for extreme heat and flooding, including building orientation, insulation and microclimate landscaping. This makes the case useful for the Business Knowledge Hub because it shows how new factory design can respond directly to the climate risks now being identified across apparel manufacturing.
