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Urban Climate mitigation technqiues
Quick Links
General resources & policy
Green spaces, roofs and walls
Cool materials and pavements
Shading structures
Evaporative cooling and earth cooling
General resources & policy
Policy Focus Report - Urban Planning Tools for Climate Change Mitigation, Patrick M. Condon, Duncan Cavens, and Nicole Miller, P., Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
This report reviews existing tools that help urban planners address climate change mitigation, analyzing the tools’ scope, scale, methodology, and policy support, and presents four case studies illustrating how existing tools at various stages of development have been used.
Urban Climate Mitigation Techniques, 2016 Mat Santamouris , Taylor & Francis Ltd (Book)
This book addresses anthropogenic heat, green areas, cool materials and pavements, outdoor shading structures, evaporative cooling and earth cooling. Case studies demonstrate the success and applicability of these measures in various cities throughout the world.
Green spaces, roofs and vertical walls
RP2005 FACTSHEET: Mitigating urban heat with green spaces Low Carbon Living CRC
The Impacts of Green Areas on Mitigating Urban Heat Island Effect: A Review, 2014, Nastaran S., The International Journal of Environmental Sustainability, Vol. 9, Issue 1, 119-130
This paper discusses the current literature and knowledge about the impacts of green spaces on mitigating Urban Heat Island effect. Studies conducted on the influence of greenery on mitigating UHI have indicated that all green spaces help urban areas adapt to the impact of UHI regardless of whether they are parks, street trees or green roofs.
Planning for cooler cities: A framework to prioritise green infrastructure to mitigate high temperatures in urban landscapes, 2015, Norton, B. , Coutts, A. , Livesley, S. , Harris, R. , Hunter, A. , & Williams, N. , Landscape and Urban Planning, 134, 127-138.
We focus particularly on quantifying the cooling benefits of four types of UGI: green open spaces (primarily public parks), shade trees, green roofs, and vertical greening systems (green walls and facades) and demonstrate how the framework can be applied using a case study from Melbourne, Australia
Cooling cities with green space: a policy analysis framework, 2015, Judy Bush, Lu Aye and Dominique Hes, The University of Melbourne
This paper provides an overview of the urban heat island effect, and urban greenery's role in its mitigation. Following this, it presents an analysis framework to assess the effectiveness of Australian policies in retaining and maximising urban greenery. The framework utilises research on sustainability transitions to structure the criteria for analysing policies.
Cities are planting more trees to fight climate change and improve healthy living, 2018, Alex Whiting
From Athens to Melbourne and Seoul to New York, big cities are increasingly turning to trees to help protect them from heatwaves and floods, and to boost people's physical and mental health, urban officials and environmental experts say
Cool materials and pavements
Using Cool Pavements to Reduce Heat Islands, US EPA
Cool pavements include a range of established and emerging technologies that communities are exploring as part of their heat island reduction efforts. The term currently refers to paving materials that reflect more solar energy, enhance water evaporation, or have been otherwise modified to remain cooler than conventional pavements.
Cool Pavements, Berkley Lab
Like conventional dark roofs, dark pavements get hot in the sun because they absorb 80-95% of sunlight. Hot pavements aggravate urban heat islands by warming the local air, and contribute to global warming by radiating heat into the atmosphere - pavements can aggravate urban heat islands because they comprise about one third of urban surfaces. Hot pavements can also raise the temperature of storm water runoff.
Carbon impact of lighter roads not so cool, Cameron Jewell, 22 May 2017, The Fifth Estate.
Having lighter, more reflective roads and walkways is often used as a strategy to reduce the urban heat island effect and cut energy costs, but research from the US’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found they could lead to increased carbon emissions. However, the research did not include other important benefits of reducing the urban heat island effect, namely health and comfort effects, which will become increasingly important in a warming world.
Shading structures
Adapting to Climate Change, Australian Government, Your Home
A home provides its occupants with a refuge from the climate, but as the climate changes, the home may not be able to meet this need. In general, temperatures are increasing, sea levels are rising and extremes in the weather are more likely. If climate change is considered when a home is being designed or altered, it is likely to remain comfortable for longer, possibly for its whole life..
Cavenagh Street Heat Mitigation, City of Darwin
The Northern Territory Government and its Darwin City Deal partners are trialling a series of heat mitigation initiatives that will help reduce surface and air temperatures in our tropical city and rejuvenate Darwin’s CBD. Heat mapping of Darwin city centre identified Cavenagh Street as one of the hottest locations in the city.
Evaporative cooling and earth cooling
Evaporative Cooling, BASIX, NSW Govt
How evaporative cooling works.
Passive Cooling, Your Home, Australian Government
To be comfortable, buildings in all Australian climates require some form of cooling at some time of the year. There are many ways you can design or modify your home to achieve comfort through passive (non-mechanical) cooling, as well as hybrid approaches which utilise mechanical cooling systems.
