Assessment of the effectiveness of cool pavements on outdoor thermal environment in urban areas

• Published in: Building and environment Vol. 266; p. 112095
• Main Authors: Elmagri, Hasna, Kamel, Tarek M., Ozer, Hasan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2024
• Subjects: Air temperature; Albedo; Cool pavement; Mean radiant temperature (MRT); Surface temperature; UTCI; Surface temperature; UTCI; Albedo; Mean radiant temperature (MRT); Air temperature; Cool pavement
• ISSN: 0360-1323
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.112095

The impacts of cool pavement as a reflected coat on enhancing the thermal environment and reducing the consequences of near-surface heat islands were studied using a combination of computational tools and field measurements. Numerous studies explored how local microclimates are impacted by the built environment (Gong et al., July 2023) [1]. However, challenges were noted to estimate how pedestrians can be impacted (Givoni et al., January 2003) [2]. To describe outdoor microclimates, it is necessary to consider air temperature, mean radiant temperature (MRT), air velocity, and relative humidity (Stathopoulos et al., March 2004) [3]. Using Ladybug Tools extensions for Grasshopper, outdoor thermal environment was simulated during the summer in Maryvale community of Phoenix, Arizona. Field measurements were taken in the same community to compare effectiveness of cool pavements as compared to standard pavement surfaces. The field observations were used to verify and validate the models. According to our research, adopting high-reflectivity pavement will lower the pavement's surface temperature, which may assist in enhancing the quality of the air by preventing the creation of ground-level ozone. However, increasing pavement reflectivity (at albedo 0.35) would have an impact on people's thermal comfort at high temperatures, since it can potentially raise the MRT as more reflected radiation would hit people's bodies. While the mean radiant temperature was greater by 5–7 °C during the middle of the day, the surface temperature of cool pavement was 10–13 °C lower than that of standard pavement in the afternoon. After sunset, in every area, there was a slight reduction in the air temperature where reflective surfaces were used. •A validated modeling approach to evaluate cool pavement strategy is presented.•The models were verified and validated using on-site measurements.•A parametric framework for temperature modeling of an urban setting is presented.•The paper enables informed selection and application of UHI mitigation strategies.