The heat island effect is the local temperature increase produced by dark, impervious surfaces, with parking lots among the leading contributors. In a parking facility:
BeforeAfter
Drag to compare. Open asphalt soaks up sun all day; a solar canopy over the same kind of stalls shades the pavement, keeps cars cooler and turns the lot into a generator. Photos: Deerphoto and bilanol.i.ua / Depositphotos.
- High-albedo surfaces, shade structures, solar canopies, and planting measurably reduce surface temperatures.
Considerations
- Cool-surface requirements increasingly appear as spec lines with measurable values. The parking lot is either part of the heat problem or its shade.