Search

Abstract This study establishes a relationship between sky view factors (SVF) and building densities and heights in a neighborhood. This research uses simulation to calculate average SVFs of hypothetical neighborhoods with different average height-density combinations, and uses the results to establish mathematical relationships that can be used in lieu of extensive field studies or generic assumptions. The advantage of this model over other methods lies within the fact that this model calculates the SVF for an urban area as opposed to a specific point. Although there are software applications that can calculate the average SVF of a selected area within an existing city, these applications require 3-dimensional shapefiles of the area, whereas the proposed method is free of such requirements and also can be used towards planning purposes for urban areas that do not exist. The method described herein is validated through direct measurement in a case study of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Drawing on the concept of local climate zones, the estimates are compared with prior research and field measurements. Systematic analysis of impacts of urban morphology on the SVF can reveal how spatial distribution and height of buildings can modify the urban environment through attenuation of solar radiation and shading. Highlights • A new approach to calculate average SVF for an area • Average SVF in an area increases when average height of the buildings increases. • Average SVF in an area increases when building density of the area increases. • The result of this method is mostly aligned other research efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing material efficiency, or material productivity, is essential for decoupling resource depletion and associated environmental pressures from economic development. This paper reviews the historical evolution of indicators monitoring material efficiency, their underpinning methodologies and major findings in the past three decades. Early studies investigated the material-economy relationship through intensity of use (IU) of some selected single materials. Economy-wide material flow accounting (EW-MFA) established a standardized framework for aggregating overall material inputs into an economy. Consumption-based material footprint (MF) analysis extended the system boundary to cover global resource extraction along supply chains to satisfy final consumption. Studies on material cycles (MC), especially metal cycles, further helped trace all major life cycle stages of anthropogenic material use, with the capability to account for in-use stocks of materials and products. Impact-based indicators investigate the opportunities to reduce negative environmental, social and economic impacts of material use, which is the ultimate purpose of improving material efficiency. Monitoring material efficiency with different indicators might lead to very different conclusions regarding a society’s dependence on material and its dematerialization trend. We present a generalized framework for constructing all kinds of material efficiency/productivity indicators and make the case that election of indicators should be problem-oriented and policy-relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between humans and their environment is epitomized by climate change issues. Public engagement is essential to communicating anticipated changes and shifting risks. We investigated one such risk-flooding in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. We examined the demographics of flood risk management meeting participants and found they were significantly older, English-only speakers, better educated, more affluent, and more likely to be homeowners than the United States Census Bureau data indicate for the region's population. The aggregate gender and ethnic representation of all communities reflected that of the region's population, but individual communities were much less diverse. These findings show that it is important for risk managers to organize meetings in many local communities in their jurisdiction to capture all demographically diverse sectors. Outreach efforts should adapt to target younger community members, non-English speakers, lowerwage earners, and renters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate is a major influence on residential energy demand and energy demand patterns. A better understanding of the link between climate and energy demand responses is crucial to improve energy forecasting outcomes and to evaluate the potential of climate change adaptation strategies. This paper reviews models of residential energy demand to temperature. We classify the models used in papers published in peer-reviewed journals and observe that the credibility of energy demand projections hinges in part on the assumption that the shape and type of the temperature response function is stationary. The evidence of acclimatization to warmer conditions may oppose this assumption. While the studies reviewed here only tested the impact of changes in the temperature thresholds and the shape of temperature response functions, a comprehensive understanding of changes in energy demand patterns and climate adaptation potentials requires knowledge of building stock turnover rates and associated changes in technology and behavioral responses of building occupants. These are not yet part of the standard repertoire of temperature-based demand models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The coupled nature of human and earth system dynamics has become increasingly apparent as humanity''s environmental footprint has increased. Yet, the methods and processes used to understand and guide those dynamics remain deficient in their treatment of that coupling. Lack of bi-directional coupling of human system dynamics with the dynamics of the larger environment within which humanity operates stymies the ability of researchers and policymakers to anticipate and limit the unintended consequences of technological change and help guide associated societal transitions. This paper lays out elements of a research agenda to ameliorate those deficiencies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Urban areas have unique characteristics that render their residents and assets particularly vulnerable to climate change. Many large urban centers are located along coasts or in low-lying areas around the mouths of major rivers, placing economic capital and human populations at risk of climate-related hazards including sea level rise and flooding from severe precipitation. Recent literature illustrates the economic and social challenges facing cities around the world as a result of climate change including energy shortages, damaged infrastructure, increasing losses to industry, heat-related mortality and illness, and scarcity of food and water. These challenges are interrelated. Economic losses make it difficult for residents to maintain their livelihoods and can therefore exacerbate social issues including poverty and hunger. At the same time, some demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of cities can make them especially vulnerable to climate change impacts. This paper reviews current literature on these issues and identifies future research needed to more fully understand climate change in the urban context. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As investment and policy decision-makers grapple with the implications of climate change, benefits are seen in making available to them climate information at spatial and temporal scales that match the realms within which those decision-makers operate. For such an endeavour to have lasting economic and social benefits, however, the information must be carefully placed within the broader environmental, economic, social and institutional context within which decisions are made. This paper illustrates the challenges and opportunities of doing so, and uses information on the cost of inaction to illustrate the contributions that may come from advancements in climate modelling and information delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Computer models are widely used to analyze decisions about energy efficiency improvements in the residential and commercial sectors. Few models exist that can actually be run interactively by decision makers to play out alternative future scenarios. None are available that interactively capture the dynamics, subtleties and complexities of interdependent decisions by utilities, households and firms in an ever-changing technological and economic environment. This paper presents the features and experiences of PowerPlay, a computer-facilitated game which fills that gap and does more: it is a game to be played by at least a dozen player groups who interact with each other, make deals (or break them), plan for the future and revise decisions. The computer model functions like a game board to trace actions and offer choices. The observed behaviors can be analyzed to advance understanding of investment strategies and consumer choices; to generate experimentally-based data on energy efficiency changes; and to provide the basis for analyses that can substantiate or complement historical, time-series driven specifications of energy models. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The climate change policy debate and ensuing discussions about industrial energy use and carbon emissions have highlighted the need to: (a) aggregate engineering information to a level relevant for economic policy analysis while maintaining sufficient detail so that results are meaningful for industry decision makers, (b) properly represent an industry’s capital vintage structure to better understand inertia associated with changes in aggregate industrial emissions profiles, and (c) identify policy instruments that leverage an industry’s potential for technological change such that carbon emissions can be noticeably reduced. This paper presents an econometric analysis of energy use and emissions profiles of the US Pulp and Paper Industry and uses the resulting set of equations to specify a dynamic model for the analysis of select climate change policies. Scenarios of cost of carbon, energy tax, and investment-led policies indicate that a combination of cost of carbon and investment-led policies can achieve the desired result of rapidly improving overall efficiency of the industry and promoting changes in fuel mix, which together can result in drastic reductions of carbon emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The majority of the world’s population is now living in urban areas, which together represent <1% of the Earth’s surface. As populations and their assets continue to accumulate in urban areas, as their role in shaping local, regional and global economic and environmental processes continues to increase, and as climate change and other challenges continue to place people, infrastructures, institutions and ecosystems at risk, more attention needs to be given to the diverse processes that determine quality of life in urban areas. Climate conditions play a particular role in this context not just because climate change poses new challenges for urban areas but also because urban areas can play a lead role in humanity’s quest for a relationship with the natural environment that allows societies to prosper and flourish for a long time to come. Urban climate, as a topic of multidisciplinary research and focus for decision-making, subsumes many of these challenges. Urban Climate, as a new journal, provides a forum to share novel data, models, analyses results, and insights at the forefront of research and decision-making. Being able to assist in that knowledge sharing and knowledge generation will be, no doubt, a great opportunity for the scientific community, planners and decision makers alike. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]