Page 10 - Climate Control News Magazine December-January 2022

News
Cooling handbook for cities
LEFT: The handbook provides planners an encyclopedia of proven options to cool cities.
ensure climate justice. Lower-income districts and communities are usually the most vulnera- ble to heat, placing the negative impacts of ex- cess warming disproportionately on those least likely to be able to afford or access thermal com- fort. We need to transition to more equitable and sustainable ways of cooling our cities and make them liveable for all.
The benefits of sustainable urban cooling are far reaching, including improved health and pro- ductivity, reduced power energy requirements, lower emissions, and economic benefits.
Cooling strategies can be optimised to work together efficiently. The report calls for a whole- system approach – that is, reduce heat at urban scale, reduce cooling needs in buildings and serve cooling needs in buildings efficiently – to benefit from integrative effects.
THE UN ENVIRONMENT Program (UNEP) has published detailed guidance to help the world’s cities address warming, which is oc- curring at twice the global average rate in ur- ban areas.
Beating the Heat: A Sustainable Cooling Handbook for Cities, states that by the end of this century, many cities could warm as much as 4 °C if GHG emissions continue at high levels. Even at 1.5°C of warming, 2.3 billion people could be vul- nerable to severe heat waves.
Launched at the UN Climate Conference (COP26), the new guide offers planners an ency- clopedia of proven options to help cool cities.
UNEP executive director, Inger Andersen, said to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5°C, net-zero needs to be in place by mid-century.
“Sustainable and equitable urban cooling must be a part of cities’ efforts to reach net-zero energy targets,” Andersen said.
In outlining the problem, the Sustainable Cooling Handbook for Cities describes how cities are warming quickly due to the “heat island ef- fect”, caused by a combination of diminished green cover, the thermal properties of the mate- rials commonly used in urban surfaces, and waste heat from human activities.
The handbook notes that:
Demand for space cooling is increasing. The energy requirement for space cooling is predict- ed to triple from 2016 to 2050 as millions of households in developing countries acquire air conditioners in the coming decades.
Impacts of urban heat are not evenly distrib- uted. Cooler cities, homes and streets are key to
Royal seal of sustainability for innovation
JOHNSON CONTROLS AND
Trane Technologies are among 45 companies to be awarded the in- augural Terra Carta Seal, a sus- tainability initiative launched by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
The Terra Carta Seal recognis-
es global companies which are
driving innovation and demonstrat-
ing their commitment to, and momentum towards, the creation of genuinely sustain- able markets.
It is being awarded to companies whose am- bitions are aligned with those of the Terra Car- ta, a recovery plan for Nature, People and Plan- et, launched in January 2021.
Johnson Controls is aiming to reach net zero by 2040 while Trane Technologies has a 2050 target.
Johnson Controls chair and CEO, George
Oliver, said the company has been lowering the global carbon foot- print of its customers, supply chain, as well as its own opera- tions through the use of tech- nologies such as OpenBlue, which is playing a key role in
decarbonising buildings.
Since 2002 Johnson Controls has reduced its emissions intensity by more than 70 per cent. The company also has helped its customers save more than 30.6 million tonnes of CO2 globally and $6.6 billion through guaranteed opera-
tional and energy savings.
Trane Technologies CEO, Dave Regnery, said
the company’s purpose is to boldly challenge what’s possible for a sustainable world.
“Every day, our 37 thousand employees around the world work to build a better, healthier planet as we help solve big challenges
like climate change and innovate towards a net-zero economy,” he said.
Trane Technologies has made a pledge to reduce customer greenhouse gas emissions by one gigaton (two per cent of the world’s annual emissions) and achieve carbon-neu- tral operations.
ABOVE: (L-R) Johnson Controls chair and CEO, George Oliver. Trane Technologies CEO, Dave Regnery.
LEFT: Terra Carta Seal
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