Heat Island Effect
Newsroom
Welcome to EPA's Urban Heat Island Newsroom. The Newsroom provides current news and links to news releases related to urban heat island impacts, mitigation strategies, and community initiatives. To help keep you up to date, you may also wish to sign up for EPA's Urban Heat Island Newsletter. Older stories can be found in the Newsroom Archive.
January 2012
- FarmRoof Goes Up On Kakaako Car Dealership
(January 5, 2012) – An organic rooftop farming system is installed on the roof of a car dealership in Kakaako, Hawaii, and is expected to reduce energy costs of the building by 20 percent.
- Tree Pittsburgh Looking to Spread the Word About City’s Urban Forest (January 17, 2012) – Tree Pittsburgh, a non-profit organization, is engaging the public in its urban forestry programs.
- White's All Right for a Cool Change to City's Buildings (January 25, 2012) – A joint study by the City of Melbourne and University of Melbourne found that white roofs can make buildings up to 4 degrees Celsius cooler inside. The push for white roofs is part of the city’s 1200 Buildings program, a central piece in its plan to achieve carbon neutral status by 2020.
- Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Announces Grants for Urban Forestry Projects (January 25, 2012) – The Connecticut DEEP announced that 17 municipalities and non-profit organizations will receive $81,425 in America the Beautiful grants for urban forestry projects in their communities.
- Green Roof Product Cools Solar Panels (January 26, 2012) – The company Green Roof Technology has launched a system for integrating solar power into a green roof. The plants cool the roof and enable the solar panels to achieve greater efficiency.
- Depave: Returning Parking Lots To Paradise (January 27, 2012) – Depave, a non-profit organization in Oregon, has been working to turn superfluous parking lots and other underused expanses of asphalt into productive green space.
December 2011
- Santa Monica City Council Adopts Urban Forest Master Plan (December 28, 2011) – The Santa Monica City Council has approved a plan that establishes guidelines for enhancing the city’s urban forest.
- UBC Researchers Try to Improve the Green Footprints of Green Roofs (December 27, 2011) – Researchers at the University of British Columbia are testing the use of construction material waste as a drainage base to reduce environmental footprints of green roofs.
- Rochester Awarded $14,750 Grant for Tree Inventory Program (December 27, 2011) – Rochester is one of 12 communities across the state to receive a grant for urban forestry from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The grant will be used to complete a community street tree inventory program.
- Green Roof Will Be Soothing to New Moms (December 19, 2011) – A green roof will be built on top of the new Anderson Medical Center cardiology building at the Boulder Community Hospital Foothills campus in East Boulder, Colorado. The roof will cost more to build than a typical roof, but is projected to save $750,000 per year in cooling costs.
- The Problem With Palm Trees (December 19, 2011) – A number of cities are recognizing that while palms are aesthetically pleasing, they do not provide the same environmental benefits, walkable streets, or lower ambient temperatures as hardwood shade trees.
- Soka Performing Arts Center and Academic Building Achieve LEED Gold Certification (December 15, 2011) – The two structures of Soka University, Orange County, CA incorporate many sustainable and energy efficiency solutions, including a green roof and solar panels.
- The Green Revolution: Urban Gardens Transform Traditional Cityscapes (December 9, 2011) – Urban gardens are no longer simply a sign of wealth; they have become a tool in both the fight against global warming and food shortage.
November 2011
- New Green Roof Tops Off Sustainability Effort at St. Joe's (November 28, 2011) – Saint Joseph’s University’s green roof not only increases energy efficiency and reduces stormwater runoff, but also serves research purposes – sections of the roof were installed with different materials and plants to study and compare the performance of roof components over time.
- White Roofs Cool Cities More than Trees (November 21, 2011) – A new study by Yale University researchers show that reflective roofing has greater cooling effect than tree cover and other vegetated areas.
- Low Impact, Green Solutions Fix Older City Water Infrastructures (November 18, 2011) – Philadelphia is using low impact development and green infrastructure to solve the problem of combined sewer overflows.
- Cities Stepping Up to Help Reduce 10 Trillion Gallons Worth of Polluted Water Dumped Into U.S. Waterways Each Year (November 16, 2011) – A new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council provides detailed case studies on how 14 cities are employing green infrastructure, such as green roofs and permeable pavement, to tackle stormwater challenges.
- DCR Awards $80,470 in Urban Forestry Challenge Grant (November 10, 2011) – The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has awarded grants to five municipalities and nonprofit groups to support tree and forestry projects at the local level.
- Twin Cities to Put Urban Heat Island to the Test (November 7, 2011) – A University of Minnesota project is placing 200 temperature sensors around the Twin Cities to study urban heat.
October 2011
- Community Voices: The Urban Forest's Stormwater Factor (October 21, 2011) – Urban trees not only reduce heat island effects, but also improve water quality and aquatic ecosystem health by mitigating the harm caused by urban runoff.
- Queens Gets a Bit Cooler with Another Green Roof – Jamaica Wastewater Treatment Plant is Latest Location be Outfitted (October 20, 2011) – The Jamaica Wastewater Treatment Plant’s green roof can soak up to 13,000 gallons of stormwater annually and will reduce the amount of combined sewer overflow that discharges into Jamaica Bay during heavy rain.
- FedEx Express Hosts Largest “Green Roof” at Any U.S. Airport (October 20, 2011) – FedEx builds a green roof the size of three football fields on its new package sorting center in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
- Urban 'Heat Island' Effect Is a Small Part of Global Warming; White Roofs Don't Reduce It (October 20, 2011) – A study by Stanford researchers find that urban heat islands are modest contributors to global warming when compared with greenhouse gases.
- The Complex Relationships Between Vegetation, Water Use, and Socioeconomics in Phoenix, AZ (October 15, 2011) – Research finds that lower-income neighborhoods in Phoenix have less vegetation, which reduces heat island effects but requires higher water use, and are more susceptible to extreme heat.
- Green Roof Movement Grows Slowly in Austin (October 7, 2011) – More financial incentives for designers, builders, and homeowners are needed to make green roofs more popular in Austin.
- Green Roofs Yielding Benefits for Ford (October 6, 2011) – The green roofs on Ford’s factory in Dearborn, Michigan have reduced energy use, improved air quality, lowered the costs of storm water reclamation and treatment, and helped restore the area’s eco-structure.
- As World Goes Urban, New Focus on Role of Trees in Cities (October 3, 2011) – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) urged countries to protect their urban and peri-urban forests for their multiple benefits. The FAO is developing guidelines to promote sound policies on trees in major metropolitan areas, due to be published in 2012.