Heat Island Program
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GEM's Heat
Island Program
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| Global Environmental Management, Inc. specializes in the analysis and mitigation of the environmental impact from urbanization and the resulting increased surface and air temperatures in cities - a phenomenon known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. |
GEM identifies the urban heat island characteristics of cities and limits their impact through UHI mitigation strategies.
Urban Heat Island mitigation offers an effective means for industry and government to address environmental protection and the requirements of environmental laws. UHI mitigation provides a myriad of environmental and economic benefits related to energy efficiency, air quality, emission reductions, storm water management, and health.
At the city scale UHI mitigation programs improve local and regional air quality by reducing emissions and retarding the formation of smog. UHI mitigation also increases energy efficiency and could reduce peak demand for cooling energy by 18 - 30%.
At the national scale UHI mitigation could reduce energy demand by $10-billion and health care costs by $5-billion dollars annually; reduce Global Greenhouse Gas emissions of CO2 by 45-million tons; and eliminate $100-billion of storm water management costs.
Collaboration
GEM collaborated with the Global Hydrology and Climate
Center at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to commercialize
NASA technology into products and services for urban environmental
programs. GEM also participated in a joint sponsored research
agreement with NASA Stennis Space Center to support the commercialization of urban heat island mapping technology.
GEM uses advanced remote sensing technology; computer mathematical modeling; and implementation strategies to support its products and services for UHI mitigation. Working with scientists from around the country, GEM has channeled and further developed leading research and technology into proprietary processes that increase the accuracy, effectiveness and economy of UHI programs.
Economic Strategies
GEM uses economic strategies to enhance the profitability
of UHI programs. The economic strategies maximize program effectiveness
by leveraging GEM's activities against external funding and support
for related programs. One strategy is direct economic incentives
to the public, similar to those established in many states for
energy efficiency, which mobilize community involvement in program
implementation and accelerate the benefits.
US EPA Support
GEM's program capitalizes on the financial opportunities
for its clients that are derived from Heat Island mitigation; for example, the US EPA's "Urban Heat Island
Mitigation Initiative" promotes UHI mitigation as a cost
effective, long-term component of State Implementation Plans
(SIP) for Clean Air Act compliance. In January of 2001 EPA announced
that Heat Island mitigation was included in its Final Policy
for incorporating Voluntary Stationary Source Emission Reduction
Programs into State Implementation Plans. (See Links
page for details)
Benefits
GEM increases the profitability of UHI mitigation by producing
a multiplicity of benefits from program implementation, including:
- increased energy efficiency,
- reduced emissions at power plants,
- reduced global greenhouse gas emissions,
- reduced evaporative and biogenic area emissions,
- reduced formation of smog across the entire urban landscape,
- reduced illness and health care costs associated with poor air quality and heat stroke, and
- improved comfort and habitability of cities
See more in next section on "program benefits."
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