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Community Actions

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There are a wide range of cost-effective steps that communities can take to reduce the impacts of urban heat islands. They include the following:

Education
Education is a key component of many heat island reduction efforts. It provides a foundation for action by informing the community about the importance of heat island reduction, and by building stakeholder support. Cities can provide background information on heat islands through web sites or brochures and incorporate it into school curriculum. Salt Lake City's Kool Kids Exit EPA disclaimer program uses a teacher resource kit and four lesson plans to educate elementary students about heat islands, their effect on air quality, and possible reduction activities.

In 1998, Los Angeles initiated the Cool Schools Exit EPA disclaimer program to educate students about the benefits of urban forestry through tree planting and pavement removal in schoolyards. The program planted shade trees at 80 schools and demonstrated "sustainable school" technologies at two schools, including cool roof and porous pavement applications.

Envision Utah's comprehensive sustainable development "Toolbox" promotes heat island education and awareness-building in the greater Salt Lake City area. It incorporates examples of local and national development codes and design standards, providing communities with ideas and information to inform future growth. The toolbox's energy efficiency and urban forestry chapters address heat island reduction.

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Demonstration Projects
Another way communities can showcase opportunities for businesses and homeowners to reduce heat islands is through demonstration projects. Local governments throughout the U.S. can initiate pilot projects for green roofs, as well as cool roofing and paving. The City of Chicago installed a highly publicized 23,000 square foot green roof of City Hall to educate the community and inspire further action. Visit Chicago's Department of Environment Exit EPA disclaimer for more information.

Another demonstration project combining several heat island reduction strategies is the Thomas O. Price Administrative Building in Tucson, AZ. Tucson's Department of Operations installed a 28,000 square foot cool roof, repaved the parking lot with light colored paving material, and planted trees. The City is analyzing the impact these measures have on surface and air temperatures, and energy consumption. See this case study Exit EPA disclaimer for further information.

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Existing Programs
State and local governments can go beyond individual demonstration projects and integrate heat island reduction into existing programs, especially where program goals can be enhanced by reduction strategies. For example, the Philadelphia Cool Homes initiative Exit EPA disclaimer incorporated cool roof technology into the City's existing weatherization activities. Cool Homes, created by the Philadelphia Energy Coordinating Agency, works to educate the community and provide energy conservation services – including cool roof coatings – to low income and elderly residents. To date, over 450 roofs have been coated, reducing top story indoor temperatures by an average of 5°F (3°C) on very hot days. Baltimore's Weatherization Assistance Program also integrates cool roof coatings and heat island reduction into the City's existing mandate to decrease energy costs.

Including heat island reduction strategies into existing green building programs is another way to leverage goals and resources. Green building techniques engage both public and private developers in heat island reduction, while maximizing the environmental and economic performance of a building. The U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Exit EPA disclaimer is a rating system that establishes a standard for green buildings. Under LEED's system, credit is given for roof and non-roof heat island reduction strategies. Roof credit is earned by installing either a cool or green roof, while non-roof credit is earned through minimum percentages of highly-reflective, shaded, or porous pavements.

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Incentives for Voluntary Action
Another community action to promote heat island reduction is utility or energy commission incentives for voluntary demand reduction measures such as shade trees and cool roofs. The California Energy Commission's Cool Savings Program Exit EPA disclaimer (formerly known as the Cool Roof Retrofit Program) offered cash incentives through November 2002 for replacing dark roof surfaces on commercial buildings with cool roof materials. The Commission required a solar reflectance To definition provided on the glossary page greater than 65%. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Exit EPA disclaimer offered incentives beyond the state-level rebate for low slope multi-family residential and commercial buildings.

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Mitigating the impact of heat islands by planting trees and vegetation

Mitigating the impact of heat islands by planting trees and vegetation.

Tree Planting Programs
Many U.S. communities have tree-planting programs, which are often run by not-for-profit organizations. These programs provide public education about the benefits of trees and promote planting and maintenance. Some programs, such as SMUD's SacShade Exit EPA disclaimer , achieve greater participation through partnerships between non-profit organizations and utilities. TREE POWER Exit EPA disclaimer is a program through the American Public Power Association that unites 177 public power utilities in 49 states to increase energy efficiency by giving away seedlings, planting, and maintaining trees in their communities.

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Tree Shading Ordinances
Some communities have designed specific regulations to increase vegetation and shading. Cities such as Davis, CA, Sacramento, CA, and Lewisville, TX have parking lot tree-shading ordinances that require a specific percentage of parking lot surface to be covered by tree canopy. The city of Oroville, CA requires 50% shading or more from tree canopies 15 years after parking lot construction. More widely adopted ordinances provide for the protection of existing trees.

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Building Construction Standards
Cities can also adopt local building construction standards to incorporate heat island reduction strategies. The City of Tucson used the results of the cool roof demonstration on their administrative building to extend the use of ENERGY STAR ® labeled cool roofing products to all air-conditioned new and renovated city buildings. The City of Chicago recently amended its energy code to include requirements for reflective roofs on most buildings with a low-slope roof.

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Energy Codes
Policies that reduce heat islands can go beyond the community level. State energy codes regulate a minimum level of energy efficiency for buildings, and several states have included provisions for cool roofing. For example, proposed changes to California's 2005 nonresidential Title 24 Exit EPA disclaimer require the use of cool roofs on low-slope commercial buildings. In addition, the State of Florida included a credit for cool roofs in its 2001 building code Exit EPA disclaimer . The state of Georgia and islands of Guam and American Samoa also include energy code provisions where the use of cool roof materials can be traded for a lower quantity of roof insulation.

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Energy Plan
Some cities develop an energy plan to further maximize efficiency. The City of San Jose, CA's Smart Energy Plan, written in March 2001, sets a goal of cutting energy consumption from city facilities by 10%. This goal was met within eight months of inception through an aggressive drive by citywide facilities and non-profit organizations to reduce their energy consumption with cool roofing, ENERGY STAR ® products, and other efficiency measures.

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Comprehensive Master Plan
Another community option to reduce heat islands is a comprehensive master plan incorporating reduction measures into all aspects of growth. The Town of Highland, Utah accomplished this in 1999. Comprehensive master plans, or "general plans," are designed by local public or private planners to incorporate a community's vision and goals into guidelines for future growth. Highland's plan combines heat island mitigation guidelines for road paving, landscaping, and reflective roofing to achieve the primary goal of a pleasant and accessible town center. Heat island reduction measures have also been included in master plans for Gilbert, AZ and San Diego, CA.

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