Cooling the Cities - Rafraîchir les villes

The power consumption due to air-conditioning of buildings becomes
particularly significant in an urban environment because the temperature of
the air of dense urban districts is higher than in the suburbs. This
phenomenon, as well as the increase in the standards of living and other
factors namely heatwaves, contribute to the growth of the traditionally low
demand for artificial air-conditioning in Europe.

Case studies make it possible to measure the heat island effect (the
accumulation of heat in cities), to characterize the additional electricity
consumption of the buildings in an urban environment, and to give an overall
picture of the practices, techniques and materials which can help to cool the
cities. Priority is given to the practices which avoid the need for artificial
air-conditioning by taking into account the environment, the use of vegetation
and "cool" materials for the construction of pavements and buildings. For the
remaining needs for air-conditioning, the present systems of air-conditioning
can also become more energy efficient.

Case studies conducted in Seville made it possible to measure the dispersion
of the needs for air-conditioning around their average value for the various
zones of the city. One of the case studies evaluates the benefit associated
with the systematic plantation of trees and other plants in Athens. Another
case study relates to Paris and estimates the importance of centralized
solutions for air-conditioning in an urban environment.

This book results from a study launched by the European Commission and is
written by authors from three European countries very concerned by heatwaves
and their effects downtown: Greece (Athens), Spain o (Seville) and France
(Paris). All of them are professors or researchers in very high level
laboratories (Group Building Environmental Studies in Athens University,
Energy Laboratory in Ecole des Mines de Paris and in Seville University).

Ce livre contient un résumé des principaux résultats en français.
La majorité des développements techniques sont présentés en anglais.