The changing climate has an effect on the quality of life in our cities: heavier rainfall (resulting in floodings), longer periods of drought, reduced air and water quality and increasing temperatures in cities (heat stress). Awareness about these changes among various stakeholders is of great importance. …

Animal welfare has a high importance this day and age. In 1998 the 'Five freedoms' of Brambell have been put in the European law. Thermal comfort for dairy cows is in these five freedoms and so thermal discomfort must be avoided. Heat stress affects animal welfare, milkproduction, udder-health and reproduction …

Urban planning will benefit from tools that can assess the vulnerability to thermal stress in urban dense cities. Detailed quick-scan heat stress maps, as made in this study for Johannesburg, have proven valuable in the decision-making process on this topic. It raised awareness on the urgent need to …

Urban planners and several stakeholders in public and private sector are in need of (quickscan) tools that can assess the vulnerability to floods and thermal stress. Urban flooding and thermal stress have become key issues for many cities around the world. With the continuing effects of climate change, …

Cities are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change and there is an urgent need to become more resilient. This research involves the development of the City Climate Scan methodology to measure, map, scan and assess different parameters that provide insight into the vulnerability of urban areas …

The thermal performance of conventional flat roof systems is in practice normally assessed by the heat transfer caused by conduction. The effects of radiation and convection are in such cases ignored as being insignificant. Holistic flat roof systems are designed to better utilize the impact of radiation …

The future will be warmer with more tropical days, heat stress and related impacts for the healthy and liveable city. This is clear from many scientific studies and papers. Yet many local governments in the Netherlands claim to have insufficient understanding of the importance of these impacts in order …

Blue spaces in cities are often regarded as adaptation measures that effectively reduce urban heat. Therefore, urban professionals like to integrate blue infrastructures in climate resilient designs. However, several studies indicated that the cooling effect of small water bodies is often small or absent. …

This paper presents five design prototypes for cool urban water environments developed in the 'Really cooling water bodies in cities' (REALCOOL) project. The REALCOOL prototypes address an urgent need: urban water bodies, such as ponds or canals, are often assumed to cool down their surroundings during …