Did you know that Oklahoma City did a heat mapping campaign in 2023? Volunteers drive around on the hottest day of the year of the year to measure air temperatures to find the hottest parts of the city. The way we build, cover land, all contributes to our Urban Heat Island.
Impervious elements of the built environment, like roadways, buildings, and parking lots, absorb the sun’s thermal energy and affect how precipitation moves once it reaches the ground. This changes how the natural environment behaves during extreme heat and inundating rainfall that creates the conditions for flash flooding, degraded water quality, and the urban heat island (UHI) effect. The UHI effect is a phenomenon where an “island” of ambient heat causes significantly higher temperatures in urban areas compared to nearby rural areas due to the vast amount of buildings, pavement, and infrastructure. This concentrated heat increases electricity consumption and associated costs, contributes to poor air quality, and creates dangerous conditions for sensitive populations like the elderly and those who suffer from respiratory illnesses. As of 2017, Oklahoma City’s urbanized area spanned more than 234 square miles covering 38% of the city. Boosted by code-required parking minimums, 11% of Oklahoma City’s urbanized area is covered by the largest single type of impervious surface in the urban area: parking lots. Urbanization is synonymous with growth and growth is required to ensure our economic vitality. The question is not if we should grow, but how we grow. Sprawling development stretches demand and increases the cost of City services and, coupled with a changing natural environment and more severe extreme weather conditions, increases risk.
In 2020, Oklahoma City created ADAPTOKC, their sustainability plan with the goal to mitigate effects of extreme heat. Historical heat observations between the 1970’s and 2020 have increased and projections show that we will see an average increase (at minimum) 2 degrees in 2050, the high end would be double at 5 degrees. This means we can expect 20 to 30 more days over 100 by 2050, likely more days than projected (SCIPP). Our sustainability office in Oklahoma City.
With this projected heat output, we can expect utility costs to increase. Oklahoma is projected to see a 50% increase in electricity demand in 2050 and 175% increase in electricity demand between 2020 to 2100. What does this have to do with Real Estate? This demand will likely result in increased utility fuel charges and possibly infrastructure upgrades to outdated system. This will effect businesses as well as residential dwellings. Understanding this can help potential Homeowners work to reduce energy costs and add to their monthly budget to prepare for these costs.
Fortunately Oklahoma City is strategizing ways to reduce the temperatures, like increasing our tree canopy across the metro.
Oklahoma City’s tree canopy is a community asset that can help mitigate the urban heat island effect, reduce storm water drainage challenges, reduce heating and cooling costs, and improve air quality. Trees offer tremendous benefits for people and businesses in urban areas – shading hot parking lots and sidewalks, capturing storm water, capturing air pollution, and even providing a boost for business. A human behavior study conducted by the University of Washington found shoppers were willing to pay 9% to 12% more for goods in tree-lined business districts than in shopping areas without trees. ADAPTOKC Study,
The data will help the City determine places for cooling shelters, and create heat action plans to educate the public and policymakers.
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