Solarpunk Urbanism

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A community to discuss solarpunk and other new and alternative urbanisms that seek to break away from our currently ecologically destructive urbanisms.

Henri Lefebvre, The Right to the City — In brief, the right to the city is the right to the production of a city. The labor of a worker is the source of most of the value of a commodity that is expropriated by the owner. The worker, therefore, has a right to benefit from that value denied to them. In the same way, the urban citizen produces and reproduces the city through their own daily actions. However, the the city is expropriated from the urbanite by the rich and the state. The right to the city is therefore the right to appropriate the city by and for those who make and remake it.

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Atlanta is embracing a cheap, effective way to beat urban heat: 'cool roofs' (grist.org)

submitted 5 days ago by SteveKLord@slrpnk.net to c/urbanism@slrpnk.net

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Walk outside into 100-degree heat wearing a black shirt, and you’ll feel a whole lot hotter than if you were wearing white. Now think about your roof: If it’s also dark, it’s soaking up more of the sun’s energy and radiating that heat indoors. If it were a lighter color, it’d be like your home was wearing a giant white shirt all the time.

This is the idea behind the “cool roof.” Last month, Atlanta joined a growing number of American cities requiring that new roofs be more reflective. That significantly reduces temperatures not just in a building, but in the surrounding urban environment. “I really wanted to be able to approach climate change in the city of Atlanta with a diversity of tactics,” said City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari, who authored the bill, “because it’s far easier to change a local climate than it is a global one.”

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[–] octopus_ink@slrpnk.net 3 points 4 days ago (4 children)

This seems as good a place as any to ask this question that has recently been on my mind.

Would a spaced secondary layer act as a sort of barrier to the direct heating effect of sunlight hitting the roof, effectively shading the entire thing and reducing the load on an interior AC?

I understand insulation exists, but keeping the largest upward facing surface of the building from direct sunlight feels like a no-brainer to me.

[–] DempstersBox@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

A shade structure? Yes, a shade structure will dramatically reduce load on the AC of whatever is under it.

Would that help the larger city climate? Well sure, if it's trees. A giant umbrella over the top of a skyscraper? Who knows

[–] octopus_ink@slrpnk.net 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I have to admit I was really thinking of houses - it seems to me a small expense for such a potentially substantial improvement, especially if done at construction time.

(None of this is to disagree with the idea of using lighter/more reflective roofing materials, FWIW.)

Edit - and I don't mean a giant umbrella or similar, I feel like a typical home could easily just have a structure the size of the roof and spaced a few inches out from it.

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