Saturday, October 18, 2008

London's overheating buildings and skyline must adapt to climate change

Media Newswire: The University of Reading's Meteorology Department is leading a major new project to help understand how London's existing and new buildings directly affect, and need to adapt to, climate change. ….The funding will create the Advanced Climate Technology Urban Atmospheric Laboratory (ACTUAL ), which will investigate the impact that buildings themselves have on London's changing climate. Results will be integrated directly into engineering and policy areas which impact on urban infrastructure.

Dr. Janet Barlow, the ACTUAL project leader from the University of Reading, said: "Most of the world's population lives in cities, which are already responsible for 80% of the world's carbon emissions. London's energy consumption soared during the 2003 heat wave as offices and public buildings switched on air conditioning systems across the city. Such extreme temperatures are predicted to be a regular occurrence by the 2050s, at which point 70% of our current buildings will still be around. They are not designed to function in what will be the equivalent of the current-day Mediterranean climate."

The initial five year project will use buildings such as the BT Tower to investigate sustainable adaptation of buildings to a warmer London climate. The research will focus on three areas: improving urban climate simulation, assessing the effect of building layout on city ventilation and developing tools to optimise urban renewable energy generation….

The BT Tower in London, shot by Mahlum, Wikimedia Commons

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