What is Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI)?
The UHI occurs when urban or developed land is hotter than surrounding rural and undeveloped land. Sunlight energy is absorbed by rooftops, pavements, structures, and other surfaces and then converted and released as heat energy into the air. Since the spacing of man-made structures is much more dense in urban areas, more heat is released causing the outside temperature in a city to be sometimes 6-8 degrees (F) hotter than rural areas. Invisible Structures’ Product Line can help mitigate the effects of Urban Heat Island (UHI). Cool pavements, more trees, green roofs, and unique development options make ISI’s product line a perfect choice to help fight UHI in you site plans. Grasspave2 and Gravelpave2 address many components of Urban Heat Island mitigation including: thermal conductivity, heat storage capacity, density, albedo (see chart to right), and emissivity. Grasspave2 has the added component of “air-conditioning effect.” • Cool Pavements – Grasspave2 and Gravelpave2 are some of t
