Name: Phoenix tries 'cool pavement' to curb heat island effect
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Phoenix tries 'cool pavement' to curb heat island effect

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Arizona RepublicAs temperatures continue to rise this summer in Phoenix, the city is piloting a tool they hope will help curb the urban heat island effect — cool pavement.Cities are hotter than rural areas because they’re covered in more dark, impermeable surfaces that absorb heat from sunlight. As the surfaces get hot, they warm the air above, creating a heat island.Light-colored surfaces, however, reflect more of the sunlight back, theoretically keeping cities cooler.That’s where cool pavement comes in — it’s a light gray water-based coating that’s applied on top of existing asphalt.Phoenix decided to try cool pavement said Rubben Lolly, special projects administrator for the Phoenix Street Transportation Department.In L.A., the cool pavement keeps streets anywhere from 12 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than traditional asphalt. But because Phoenix streets can get as hot as 160 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer, Lolly said they’re expecting to see an even more dramatic decrease&nbsp;in temperature.“Pavement as a whole makes up to 30-45% of the urban landscape surface area, so that’s huge,” Lolly said. “If we’re going to do cool pavement, it’s going to be huge in reducing the urban heat island effect.”Phoenix Chief Sustainability Officer Mark Hartman said the cool pavement is . If the streets are cooler and radiating less heat, people may be more inclined to walk rather than drive to nearby stores, he said, especially if the cityalso adds more trees and shade.“We do not see it as an absolute necessity to have cooler surfaces everywhere, but, more importantly, along corridors that pedestrians traverse,” Hartman said.Cool pavement was applied for the first time in Phoenix on June 11 at Esteban Park, located at 32nd Street and Roeser Road. It is the first of nine locations that will be paved with cool pavement.The rest of the proposed cool pavement locations will not be paved until late July or Early August, Lolly said. Those locations are:While looking for streets to test on, Lolly said the team sought out areas in each council district with pavement that was in good condition but due for a surface treatment. The streets all have varying levels of shade and sun to test a variety of weather conditions.Ryan Stevens, a civil engineer for the city’s street department, said one of the most important outcomes the city is hoping to see from the pilot program is lower temperatures at night.At night, the dark asphalt surfaces reemit the heat they absorbed during the day, causing Phoenix to experience hotter nighttime temperatures than surrounding areas.“I know I personally find as a Phoenix native it’s unbearable when it’s August and it’s still 97 degrees in the middle of the night," he said. "But if it gets up to 110 during the day and goes down to 70 or 80 (degrees) at night, it makes living much more bearable."The city will be testing the temperature of the cool pavement at different times of the day and night throughout the summer to analyze the difference it makes in re-emission, Stevens said.Cool pavement is applied using the same equipment and process as traditional seal coatings.Although the application process is the same, the cost is not—the cool pavement seal costs about four times more than traditional seal coatings, Lolly said.“I think with regards to heat mitigation, it’s excellent.&nbsp;With regards to performance, it’s also quite excellent. The cost, it’s interesting,” Lolly said. “We’re going to have to do a cost analysis to see cost effectiveness and see if we can implement the product (on a larger scale).”He said the&nbsp;cool pavement seals do last about twice as long as traditional seals, which is also something the city will have to consider when evaluating the cost.The city is also looking at other options, Hartman said, including&nbsp;creating base asphalt material with more reflective properties&nbsp;to reduce the cost of having to apply an additional coating. For those who would like to learn more about the cool pavement pilot program, the city is hosting a virtual public meeting at 6 p.m. June 30.Those who wish to only listen to the meeting can dial 602-666-0783, enter meeting number 146 145 2048, then press #. Press # again if prompted for an attendee ID.&nbsp;To view the live meeting using a web-enabled device with both video and audio, go to&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;Those who would like to speak or submit a question at the meeting should contact Heather Murphy at Heather.Murphy@phoenix.gov or 602-292-3883 by noon on June 29.

Arizona RepublicAs temperatures continue to rise this summer in Phoenix, the city is piloting a tool they hope will help curb the urban heat island effect — cool pavement.Cities are hotter than rural areas because they’re covered in more dark, impermeable surfaces that absorb heat from sunlight. As the surfaces get hot, they warm the air above, creating a heat island.Light-colored surfaces, however, reflect more of the sunlight back, theoretically keeping cities cooler.That’s where cool pavement comes in — it’s a light gray water-based coating that’s applied on top of existing...

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Phoenix tries 'cool pavement' to curb heat island effect

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