Due to the significant increase in the global temperature, the demand for cooling is dramatically rising. Most of this demand is met by conventional systems driven by electricity generated using fossil fuels contributing in the global warming phenomenon. The adsorption system is a sustainable system being driven by waste or low-grade heat sources such as solar energy. MIL-101(Cr) is a metal–organic framework (MOF) material with exceptional properties and high-water uptake. Nevertheless, it is not suitable for adsorption cooling application as the high capacity is taking place only at high relative pressure range (>0.5). The water adsorption characteristics of MIL-101(Cr) were significantly enhanced through incorporating the material with calcium chloride. Results showed that at a desorption temperature of 90°C and a chilled water inlet temperature of 10°C, the SCP increased from 168 for the neat MIL-101(Cr) to 248 and 388 W kg[sup]‒1 for Comp_1:5 and Comp_1:8 CaCl[sub]2 composites, respectively outperforming the long dominating silica gel.