Temperature of Paved Streets in Urban Mockups and Its Implication of Reflective Cool Pavements

• Main Authors: Yi Zhang, Peiyuan Wei, Lei Wang, Yinghong Qin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
• Series: Atmosphere
• Subjects: urban street; temperature; thermal comfort; sky view factor; cool pavements; street orientation
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/5/560

In summer, urban heat islands increase building cooling demands, aggravate air pollution, and cause heat-related illnesses. As a mitigation strategy, reflective cool pavements have been deemed an effective measure to decrease the temperature in urban areas. However, the reflection of paved streets in an urban area will be different from that in an open area. It remains unknown which fraction of paved streets needs to be cooled upmost, and if increasing the albedo of paved streets can effectively reduce their temperature. This study measured the skin temperature of two urban mockups, of which one contained white streets and the other, gray streets. The streets were orientated at different strikes. It was found that in summer the East-West street was hotter than both the cross street and the South-North street. At nighttime, the heat released from building blocks kept the paved street about 0.2 °C hotter than paved areas in open spaces. It was also found that street orientation controlled the skin temperature of an urban street while the sky view factor (or building height and street width) acted in a secondary role only. Increasing the albedo of the paved street in an urban canyon effectively reduced the skin temperature of the street. Reflective pavements should be built preferentially on East-West streets and the cross streets.