Kurt Shickman Receives Dr. Arthur Rosenfeld Award

February 2022 A Message from the GCCA Board – New Leadership and Rosenfeld Urban Cooling Achievement Award Winner Thank you and Farewell to our GCCA Executive Director, Kurt Shickman It is with mixed emotions that the GCCA board bids farewell to Kurt Shickman, who after ten years as GCCA’s Executive Director is moving on to become … Continue reading Kurt Shickman Receives Dr. Arthur Rosenfeld Award

Extreme Heat in Reconciliation Legislation

  A group of organizations have sent an open letter to Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer to highlight the opportunity ofncorporating heat resilience into the reconciliation legislation and their broader agenda.  The letter lays out 9 recommendations for tackling extreme heat: Improve warning systems. Increasing awareness of the dangers from heat is the critical … Continue reading Extreme Heat in Reconciliation Legislation

Coalition Forms to Promote Resilience to Extreme Heat in Federal Infrastructure Talks

A diverse group of 20 organizations has drafted a letter (Heat in Federal Policy 7_29_21) to leaders in the White House and Capitol Hill to highlight the opportunity to include resilience to extreme heat in federal infrastructure talks.  The letter highlights the various short and long term investments to strengthen our communities to the threat … Continue reading Coalition Forms to Promote Resilience to Extreme Heat in Federal Infrastructure Talks

Cool Roadways Solutions Available Today

In December 2020, the Cool Roadways Partnership released a Request for Information to better understand the rapidly growing market for products that improve the heat resilience of our roads and pavements.  Responses were received from 12 manufacturers, covering a wide range of seals, overlays, rejuvenation products and other solutions.  Their unedited RFI responses and supporting … Continue reading Cool Roadways Solutions Available Today

Cool Roadways Partnership

Excessive Heat is a Major Urban Challenge. The need to protect people from extreme heat is one of the key resilience and sustainability challenges of the 21st Century. Rising urban temperatures have negative implications for nearly every aspect of urban life.

Primer for Cool Cities — Passive Cooling Solutions and How to Implement Them

GCCA Executive Director Kurt Shickman is the lead author on a new World Bank report — Primer for Cool Cities: Reducing Excessive Urban Heat with a Focus on Passive Measures — that details the many ways cities can transform into cooler, more habitable places in the face of rising temperatures and provides detailed, practical, actionable … Continue reading Primer for Cool Cities — Passive Cooling Solutions and How to Implement Them

Recommendations for cities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Recommendations from GCCA, Society of Behavioral Medicine and others provide a roadmap for cities to address dangerous heat during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new policy brief from the Society of Behavioral Medicine lays out a roadmap to help cities adjust their approach to preparing for compounding health challenges dangerous summer heat and COVID-19. The brief … Continue reading Recommendations for cities during the COVID-19 pandemic

The One Million Cool Roofs Challenge

The Cool Roofs Challenge is an unprecedented $2 million initiative comprising an outcome-based $1 million challenge prize and $1 million of grant pool of up to ten $100,000 grants to support teams with their entry to the challenge. The final prize will be awarded to the team that has the most effective, sustainable and replicable … Continue reading The One Million Cool Roofs Challenge

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Saving Billions by Managing Urban Sun and Rain

We have long known that smarter material choices for our roofs and pavements would lead to significant improvements in urban economies and quality of life. Now, a report for the District of Columbia municipal government shows just how big those net benefits can be by evaluating the potential costs and benefits of urban “sun and … Continue reading Saving Billions by Managing Urban Sun and Rain

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New Thinking on Cool Roof in Cool Climates

Roofing Magazine’s September/October edition includes an article from GCCA that examines some of the new research that is toppling the myth that cool roofs are not suitable in cool climates.  You can check it out over at their website.  I focus on two studies in the article, but these two are only the latest analyses … Continue reading New Thinking on Cool Roof in Cool Climates

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Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative

Helping to Demonstrate the Benefits of a Cooler Los Angeles as a Model for Other Cities The Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative (LAUCC) is a unique national partnership between nonprofit groups, universities, government agencies and other experts in urban heat with the aim of achieving a cooler, more prosperous, and healthier Los Angeles by addressing … Continue reading Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative

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Catch GCCA Executive Director, Kurt Shickman on KCRW

GCCA Executive Director recently spoke with KCRW’s Madeleine Brand about the urban heat island effect, and explained how cool roofs can help bring down urban temperatures.

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GCCA Executive Director Kurt Shickman on WAMU’s Metro Connection

GCCA Executive Director, Kurt Shickman recently discussed rising urban temperatures, and explained that when cities lighten up, they cool down.

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South Africa Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Exchange

Welcome to the South Africa Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Exchange (EERE Exchange), a regularly-updated platform for sharing information on initiatives related to the growth of markets for efficient, clean, and sustainable technologies in South Africa.

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Evaluating the Health Benefits of Urban Cooling

GCCA worked with a top team of researchers to study how cool surfaces and vegetation save lives during extreme heat events in Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington.

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Urban Heat Island Policy Survey

GCCA and ACEEE survey 26 cities to learn how they are addressing excess urban heat.

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Assessing the Health Impacts of Urban Heat Island Strategies in the District of Columbia

GCCA finds that cooler surfaces and more green space can save lives during heat waves in Washington, DC.

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Growing South African Markets for Efficient and Renewable Technologies

A U.S. Department of Energy initiative to grow the market for U.S. energy efficiency and renewable energy products, technologies, and services in South Africa.

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GCCA Responds to ASU Paper Unintended Consequences

GCCA responds to an industry sponsored white-paper, which questioned the benefits of cool roofs and pavements. Our fact-check finds close to 60 factual errors and misrepresentations.

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Partnership with C40

GCCA and C40 developed the Cool Cities Network, a member-driven forum to help cities around the world reduce excess urban heat.

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Global Superior Energy Performance Partnership (GSEP)

The GSEP Cool Roofs and Pavements Working Group is a public/private partnership that includes India, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, and the U.S.

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Cool Roofs and Cool Pavements Toolkit

Check out our free knowledge base and discussion forum about cool surfaces and global cooling at CoolRoofToolkit.org.

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Cool Surfaces News Roundup: 2013

Cool surfaces were in the news in 2013, and GCCA has pulled together some of the highlights in the inaugural issue of our Cool Retrospective.