Strategies for making parks cool, inviting community cooling centers during extreme heat.
Researchers at Princeton University are looking for ways to cool urban parks, reports Patrick Sisson, so they can serve as neighborhood cooling centers during extreme heat waves. According to professor Elie Bou-Zeid, “It’ll certainly be more pleasant to be in a park than in some indoor stadium where nobody wants to go.”
The strategies being tested include:
- Kirigami: a paper cutting and folding technique that can be used in architecture to control air flow and make structures cooler.
- Misters: common in places like Palm Springs, misters can significantly cool the air.
- Cold tubes: panels with cold water pipes “draw in heat from the bodies of people standing outside the structure, making them feel cooler without actually cooling the surrounding air.”
FULL STORY: Cooling Parks Will Help Cities During Record-Breaking Heat Waves
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Cooling Costs to Hit 10-Year High This Summer
Longer, more intense heat waves are driving up cooling costs and putting low-income households at higher risk for heat-related illnesses.
Why It's So Difficult to Measure Heat Deaths
Without a standard for recording and classifying heat-related deaths, experts believe the scale of the problem is much bigger than numbers let on.
New Florida Law Curbs HOA Power
The legislation seeks to cut down on ‘absurd’ citations for low-level violations.
New Tennessee Law Allows No-Cost Incentives for Affordable Housing
Local governments in the Volunteer State can now offer developers incentives like increased density, lower parking requirements, and priority permitting for affordable housing projects.
Planners’ Complicity in Excessive Traffic Deaths
Professor Wes Marshall’s provocatively-titled new book, "Killed by a Traffic Engineer," has stimulated fierce debates. Are his criticisms justified? Let’s examine the degree that traffic engineers contribute to avoidable traffic deaths.
City of Madera
City of Santa Clarita
Borough of Carlisle
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Colorado Energy Office
Pima County Community College District
City of Piedmont, CA
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