@inproceedings{4661b87affac4c8bafe7e6d8bdb346be,
title = "Is urban heat island mitigation necessarily a worthy objective?",
abstract = "It has become an article of faith that a primary objective of applied urban climatology is to mitigate urban heat islands. There is irrefutable evidence for correlation between increasing air temperature and several negative outcomes, including increased energy consumption in buildings; impaired pedestrian thermal comfort; excess mortality during summer heat waves; and reduced urban air quality. Policies for UHI mitigation are promoted all over the world by bodies as diverse as the US EPA and the EU, with an urgency that is further justified by concerns about global warming. However, a policy focused on air temperature reduction as the objective of UHI mitigation measures may ‐ in some cases ‐ lead to policies that are at best ineffective or even counter‐productive in terms of their practical outcomes. In contrast, improving thermal comfort or conserving energy can be achieved even with no substantial reduction of air temperature. This requires an understanding of the inter‐related effects on the urban microclimate of street canyon dimensions, building density, paving materials and the effects of vegetation, as they relate to the local climate.",
keywords = "Energy conservation, Thermal comfort, Urban microclimate, Vegetation",
author = "Evyatar Erell",
note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} NCEUB 2017.; 33rd International on Passive and Low Energy Architecture Conference: Design to Thrive, PLEA 2017 ; Conference date: 02-07-2017 Through 05-07-2017",
year = "2017",
month = jan,
day = "1",
language = "English",
series = "Proceedings of 33rd PLEA International Conference: Design to Thrive, PLEA 2017",
publisher = "NCEUB 2017 - Network for Comfort and Energy Use in Buildings",
pages = "1693--1700",
editor = "Luisa Brotas and Sue Roaf and Fergus Nicol",
booktitle = "Proceedings of 33rd PLEA International Conference",
}