Using cool paving materials to improve microclimate of urban areas – Design realization and results of the flisvos project

Abstract

The present paper deals with the application of 4500 m 2 of reflective pavements in an urban park in the greater Athens area. The aim was to improve thermal comfort conditions, reduce the intensity of heat island and improve the global environmental quality in the considered area. To our knowledge, this has been the largest application of cool pavements in urban areas in the world. To evaluate the thermal impact of cool paving materials, specific and detailed measurements of the climatic conditions in the park have been performed before and after the installation of the new materials. Validated computerized fluid dynamics techniques have been used to homogenize the boundary conditions occurring during the two experiments and to perform direct comparisons of the climatic quality in the park. It was estimated that the use of cool paving materials contributes to the reduction of the peak ambient temperature during a typical summer day, by up to 1.9 K. At the same time, the surface temperature in the park was decreased by 12 K, while comfort conditions have been improved considerably. It is concluded that the use of reflective paving materials is a very efficient mitigation technique to improve thermal conditions in urban areas.

The urban microclimate in open space. Case studies in Madrid

“…The materials used are: eco-block pavement for pedestrian areas and parking, white asphalt , Santamouris et al 2011, Santamouris et al 2012) and high reflective asphalt: PerfectCool 8 (Wan et al 2009) for the roads. As shown in experimental research on these materials (Santamouris et al 2012, Santamouris et al 2011, Karlessi et al 2009, the system shows that a reduction 8 PerfectCool is the pavement coating developed by the Public Works Research Institute, Nippo Corporation Co, Miracool Co. Ltd, Kanematsu Corporation Co., and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The material is based on principle that increasing the reflectance of the pavement surfaces, less heat will be absorbed, thereby lowering daytime temperature of the pavements.…”

Landsat Surface Temperature Data Analysis for Urban Heat Resilience: Case Study of Adelaide

“…Urban heat island literature argues that surface cover materials alter the magnitude of heat stress in urban settings (Oke 1988, Tapper 1990, Gartland 2008, Ichinose, Matsumoto et al 2008, Wong and Jusuf 2010, Santamouris, Gaitani et al 2012). All GeoTIFF files except those related to the Panchromatic, Cirrus, Coastal Aerosol and Thermal Bands had to be processed.…”

The Mitigative Potential of Urban Environments and Their Microclimates

“…Hundreds of applications involving cool paving materials have been realized and monitored. Results show that it is possible to reduce the peak and average summertime temperature of open spaces by several degrees and also improve the global environmental quality of the cities [2,18,36].…”