Urban Heat Island Books

Urban heat islands are metropolitan areas that are significantly warmer than their surroundings. The main causes are modification of the land surface by urban development and waste heat generated by energy usage. Heat island problems are becoming more pressing as cities continue to grow and sprawl. This comprehensive book brings together the latest information about heat islands and their mitigation. Heat island formation and the problems they cause, mitigation technologies and their benefits and policies, and actions for cooling communities are described in full. The author includes sections on roof cooling and cool paving and explains their benefits in detail, providing practical guidelines for their selection and installation. The book also includes effective methodologies for using trees and vegetation for cooling, such as green roofs. In this groundbreaking book, Lisa Gartland offers a comprehensive source of information for turning heat islands into cool communities.

Conventional air conditioning is not a sustainable solution to the challenge of a hot or humid climate. The climate problem is compounded in so-called Urban Heat Islands, urban areas where the air can be 3-5°C hotter than its surrounding areas and where pollution levels are consequently raised. Including a colour section with thermal images and maps, this book explores the complex relationships between climate, buildings and plants, especially in urban heat islands. These relationships bear very critically on a range of environmental issues and point to some corresponding solutions. One chapter highlights some of the extensive research work carried out in Singapore, especially investigating the thermal benefits of greenery in buildings in the urban setting. Though several books have been written on urban heat islands, this work uniquely examines the linkages between climate, buildings and plants. It forms a reference for researchers and professionals such as architects, architectural science, landscape architects, building services engineers, urban planners and urban climatologists. It may also be useful for final year undergraduates or graduate students in these disciplines.