Primer for Cool Cities : Reducing Excessive Urban Heat with a Focus on Passive Measures
Cities are becoming hotter due to increased urbanization and global climate change. The adverse effects of rising temperatures are significant, affecting nearly every aspect of urban life. Implementing measures to cool cities successfully will have numerous benefits, including improved health, well-being, productivity, air quality, and energy systems. In the short term, urban cooling solutions can be deployed to help mitigate the risk of rising urban air temperatures. This primer and its companion report, Cool City Case Studies: Reducing Urban Heat, provide implementers, policymakers, and planners with practical, actionable guidance and examples for mitigating the effects of urban heat.
This report discusses:
The challenges of rising temperatures for cities and, more broadly, for urban design. building, community
City-level actions and solutions for reducing excess heat and promoting thermal comfort
Advantages of a large-scale integrated deployment of urban cooling solutions
A framework for developing inclusive urban cooling strategies
Benefits of a heat action plan in protecting residents from periods of extreme heat.
In addition, examples, outcomes, and recommendations from urban cooling policies and actions implemented worldwide are provided.
Click HERE to know how this report differentiates mechanical cooling via vapor compression systems from non-refrigerant–based technologies such as fans and swamp coolers.
