Smart Surfaces and Lung Health

Light colored roads reflect more sunlight than dark asphalt. This leads to reduced pavement temperature, cooler streets and neighborhoods, and greater pedestrian and resident comfort. Light colored, cool roads increase pavement lifespan, reduce street lighting requirements while providing greater visibility resulting in fewer car accidents. 

Concrete is responsible for 8% of global carbon emissions. New concrete materials are available that make it carbon neutral or even carbon negative. 

Porous pavements allow rain to absorb into the ground, reducing pollution, stormwater runoff, and flood risk. Porous pavements can lower temperatures through evaporative cooling. Porous pavements act as a filter for water, being cleaned as it passes through the soil into groundwater. Porous pavements decrease the likelihood of stormwater overflowing into sewers and bodies of water. Types of porous pavements include porous asphalt, concrete, permeable pavers, and porous grid pavers with turf or gravel. 

Solar photovoltaic cells, also called Solar PV, converts sunlight into renewable energy, helping cities reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. Solar reduces energy demand from non-renewable power plants, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving air quality. Solar panels also provide shade for buildings, sidewalks, and other public areas.

Green roofs are living, breathing entities that absorb rainwater, reduce heat absorption, and improve air quality. Green roofs cool buildings, reduce storm water runoff, and provide urban wildlife habitats. With green and light-colored roofs, less heat is transferred into buildings and into the city air. Cool roofs reduce energy consumption and costs. The plants on a green roof reduce carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter in the air. Another benefit of a green roof is that they have longer effective life spans than traditional dark and impervious roofs.

Urban greening is the practice of planting trees, shrubs, and native grasses throughout the city, including parking lots, along streets, and in vacant lots. Urban trees provide shade which reduces temperature at the street level. Urban trees and greenscapes can reduce the temperature by up to 7°F during the day and 22°F at night. Greenscapes turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, remove pollutants from the air, and reduce flood risk. Urban greenscapes also reduce water pollution caused by runoff during heavy rains. Trees reduce the flood risk because trees absorb water during heavy rains. 

Rain gardens and bioswales both collect rainwater runoff, filter stormwater pollutants from the water, and allow water to be reabsorbed into the soil. Bioswales are similar to rain gardens but are much larger and can capture more runoff from larger surfaces like streets and parking lots. Rain gardens and bioswales assist in cooling the air temperature and provide a habitat for native plants and wildlife.