New York, New York. Children escape the heat of the East Side by using fire hydrant as a shower bath in 1943. Photography by Roger Smith. Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Let’s face it...it’s hot. Even though it is the summer season, sweltering temperatures ranging in the 100’s with added humidity isn’t due to the season alone. With Archinect’s recent coverage of sustainable cities and alternative building practices to help regulate building temperatures, how can this information be applied to the everyday American? Cities and infrastructures can’t be rebuilt in a day so what can residents, especially those in the Central and Eastern portion of the U.S. do to survive the heat? What can we learn from heat waves like this, and how can the built environment respond to these changes?

One step to staying cool and safe during these extreme weathers is staying informed. In this piece, we break down terms relating to heat waves and learn how the built environment impacts these temperatures.

Thanks to climate change architects must consider alternative ways for buildings to remain resilient during intense weather changes and conditions. Although heat is merely one of the many natural disasters that can afflict the planet, rising temperatures is one issue causing quite a stir right now. People across the U.S. have been issued special emergency warnings due to increasing temperatures. Major cities with dense urban landscapes will struggle with these rising temperatures due to their built environment. 

Staying hydrated and keeping away from the sun are obvious examples of beating the heat, but another critical factor to surviving intense temperature changes is staying informed. With organizations like the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Weather Service, Archinect has gathered reference material that can help residents learn of how architecture and temperature mitigation are interrelated.

What's a Heat Dome?

The National Weather Service has indicated two-thirds of the nation will experience temperatures reaching over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. With numbers this intense a sunburn isn't the only thing you should be worried about. Across the U.S people are being warned of this weekend's rising temperatures and how this could affect human health. 

The NOAA has categorized this dangerously hot area of the nation a "heat dome." According to the NOAA "A heat dome occurs when the atmosphere traps hot ocean air like a lid or cap [...] this happens when strong, high pressure atmospheric conditions combine with influence from complex weather patterns, creating vast areas of sweltering heat that gets trapped under the high-pressure 'dome'." Scientists at the NOAA have identified heat dome triggers relating to strong changes in ocean temperatures specifically "ocean temperatures from west to east in the tropical Pacific Ocean during the preceding winter." 

Still confused? A simple analogy to understanding heat domes is imagining the Pacific Ocean as a large swimming pool with heater jets. Because of its size, it will take more time for the entire pool to warm up while the areas surrounding the heater jets will increase in temperature faster. The NOAA explains, "As prevailing winds move the hot air east, the northern shifts of the jet stream trap the air and move it toward land, where it sinks, resulting in heat waves."

Urban Heat Island Effect and Nighttime Heat

Cities are more prone to suffering from these heat waves due to specific design elements and building materials like glass skyscrapers, asphalt, and concrete streets and sidewalks. In a previous Archinect piece covering cities becoming heat-proof tall buildings trap heat at the ground level creating sizzling "urban canyons." 

What makes this year's heat waves more dangerous than before are the adverse effects warm temperatures are having at night. A significant factor to temperatures maintaining their highs after sunset is due to urban heat island effect. Due to city density heat soaking materials such as asphalt, steel, glass, and concrete retain the heat causing these artificial surfaces to hoard heat that has been accumulated during the day. 

Air Conditioning

A luxury enjoyed by all, I too am not exempt from having a central cooling system in my home and office. While A/C units will be on full blast this weekend and perhaps the remainder of the summer the environmental ramifications connected to them is also a contributing factor to rising temperatures from dissipating. In a highly informative piece written by Hettie O'Brien for the NewStatesman, O'Brien describes air conditioning as a "reflection of capitalist individualism." "It buys comfort and convenience while polluting and heating the surrounding environment. The U.S. consumes more energy for air conditioning than the rest of the world combined." 

As alarming as this is individuals may wonder, what can we do? Mitigating heat is nothing new. Countries all over the globe have learned and created various systems to help beat the heat. However, as O'Brien poignantly shares, "Controlling the temperature of our environment is one of the greatest challenges we face." However, architects like Diébédo Francis Kéré, Pablo La Roche, and several universities around the world have dedicated time and research to implementing these temperature regulating systems into architecture and practice. In Rem Koolhaas' infamous written piece, Junk Space, he explains, "Because it costs money [and] is no longer free, conditioned space inevitably becomes conditional space." 

The discussion of air conditioning and the environmental, architectural, and socioeconomic issues it brings up could be saved for another day. However, it is essential to recognize these systems for cooling are not the answer, and by having a better understanding of how to use these mechanisms, more effectively will help everyone in the end. 

Tips for Staying Cool

With this brief explanation of heat domes, urban heat island effect interacts, and air conditioners affecting the built environment hopefully this sheds more light on what happens when a heat wave strikes. According to the National Weather Service, the best practices are to:

1. Stay hydrated.

2. Stay out of the sun. 

3. Stay connected and check on your relatives, especially small children and the elderly.