November 08, 2021
In the battle to mitigate “city heat” and conserve the energy it takes to keep folks comfortable inside, recent research has shown the importance of urban planning. Tree cover, paved surfaces, the spacing of buildings and green spaces all affect how much energy it takes to offset the “urban heat island effect.” But the relative contribution of these urban form factors has been a matter of debate. In a recently published journal paper, researchers in Drexel University’s College of Engineering, seeking to clarify the matter, presented a method for measuring the impact of each of these factors – and revealed that their contribution to building energy use varies between cities.
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