Beating urban heat: Multimeasure-centric solution sets and a complementary framework for decision-making

Yongling Zhao, Sushobhan Sen, Tiziana Susca, Jacopo Iaria, Aytaç Kubilay, Kanchane Gunawardena, Xiaohai Zhou, Yuya Takane, Yujin Park, Xiaolin Wang, Andreas Rubin, Yifan Fan, Chao Yuan, Ronita Bardhan, Dominique Derome, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Jan Carmeliet

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Urban areas are experiencing excessive heating. Addressing the heat is a challenging but essential task where not only engineering and climatic knowledge matters but also a deep understanding of social and economic dimensions. We synthesize the state of the art in heat mitigation technologies and develop an ‘ITE index’ framework that evaluates the investment (I), time for implementation (T), and effectiveness (E) of candidate heat mitigation measures. Using this framework, we assess 247 multimeasure-centric solution sets composed of all possible combinations of 8 individual measures. The multidimensional ITE index is quantified for heat mitigation effectiveness based on different urban scales, investment levels, the impact of local climate zones (LCZs), and professionals' perceptions using the analytical hierarchy process. The top 50 unique solution sets consist of 4–7 individual measures across all LCZs, with the use of thermally efficient buildings and high-efficiency indoor cooling being the two recurrent measures contributing to the best solution sets. While every city varies in terms of its ideal solution sets, we provide a multimeasure-centric framework for decision-making in which different dimensions can be integrated, understood, and quantified.

Original languageEnglish
Article number113668
JournalRenewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Volume186
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2023

Keywords

  • Decision-making for heat mitigation
  • Multidimensional ITE index
  • Ranking of solution sets
  • Urban climate
  • Urban heat mitigation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Beating urban heat: Multimeasure-centric solution sets and a complementary framework for decision-making'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this