Hotter New Year: Policymakers Will Need to Invest in Smarter Solutions for Hotter Days

By: Greg Kats and Keith Glassbrook

How cities manage the sun and rain that fall on them has a huge impact on city resilience and on residents’ health and quality of life. That will be hugely significant in the immediate future as the most important event of 2024 awaits all of us on the horizon: The threat of more ecological collapse and literal melt from a year of climate crisis-induced heat that’s already resulted in the warmest January on record ….

Some cities have established programs supporting adoption of cool roofs, solar PV (photovoltaic) or reflective pavements, while others promote expansion of green roofs and trees. More, and ideally all, need to do this. But even in a city like Washington, D.C., which is a national leader in urban sustainability, or in Philadelphia, which is a leader in water management, adoption of these measures is still too fragmented and limited for the hotter days we have ahead of us. There is very limited data and analysis to date on the costs and benefits of these solutions.

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City leaders, planners and developers lack the data and tools needed to understand and quantify the costs and benefits of technologies such as cool roofs, green roofs and porous pavements that could allow them to manage their city’s rain and sun far more effectively and cost-effectively. As a result, cities mismanage their two greatest natural gifts: sunshine and rain. This mismanagement costs billions of dollars in unnecessary health, energy, and stormwater-related costs each year, while degrading city comfort, decreasing livability and resilience, and contributing to climate crisis.

The costs are greatest in low-income areas, characterized by little greenery and dark impervious surfaces that result in excess summer heat and air pollution, excess respiratory illness, heat stress, and high health costs.