Cool Pavements and Their Role in Enhancing Urban Thermal Comfort
Keywords:
Cool pavements, Urban heat islands (UHIs), Thermal comfortAbstract
Cool pavements are an innovative approach to mitigating urban heat islands (UHIs) and improving thermal comfort in cities. These pavements are designed with materials that have higher solar reflectance and thermal emissivity, allowing them to absorb less heat during the day and release it more effectively at night. By reflecting more sunlight and absorbing less heat, cool pavements help reduce surface temperatures, lower the need for air conditioning in nearby buildings, and decrease overall energy consumption. This, in turn, alleviates the intensity of urban heat islands, which can contribute to health risks such as heat stress and respiratory problems, especially in vulnerable populations. The widespread adoption of cool pavements can contribute to creating more sustainable and livable cities, enhancing the quality of life for residents while addressing climate change challenges.
References
[1] R. N. Faragallah and R. A. Ragheb, "Evaluation of thermal comfort and urban heat island through cool paving materials using ENVI-Met," Ain Shams Engineering Journal, vol. 13, no. 3, p. 101609, 2022.
[2] D. Eustace, H. F. Elmagri, and P. W. Hovey, "Exploring Contributing Factors of Injury Severity of Drivers of Emergency Vehicles in Ohio," 2017.
[3] C. Wang, Z.-H. Wang, K. E. Kaloush, and J. Shacat, "Cool pavements for urban heat island mitigation: A synthetic review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 146, p. 111171, 2021.
[4] H. Li, Y. He, and J. Harvey, "Human thermal comfort: Modeling the impact of different cool pavement strategies," Transportation Research Record, vol. 2575, no. 1, pp. 92-102, 2016.
[5] H. Elmagri, T. M. Kamel, and H. Ozer, "Assessment of the effectiveness of cool pavements on outdoor thermal environment in urban areas," Building and Environment, vol. 266, p. 112095, 2024.
[6] A. Aboelata, "Reducing outdoor air temperature, improving thermal comfort, and saving buildings’ cooling energy demand in arid cities–Cool paving utilization," Sustainable Cities and Society, vol. 68, p. 102762, 2021.
[7] B. Anupam, U. C. Sahoo, A. K. Chandrappa, and P. Rath, "Emerging technologies in cool pavements: A review," Construction and Building Materials, vol. 299, p. 123892, 2021.
[8] Y. Qin, "A review on the development of cool pavements to mitigate urban heat island effect," Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, vol. 52, pp. 445-459, 2015.
[9] M. Santamouris, A. Synnefa, and T. Karlessi, "Using advanced cool materials in the urban built environment to mitigate heat islands and improve thermal comfort conditions," Solar energy, vol. 85, no. 12, pp. 3085-3102, 2011.
[10] H. F. Elmagri III, "Exploring and Identifying Contributing Factors of Injury Severity of Drivers of Emergency Vehicles in Ohio," University of Dayton, 2016.
