Urban Heat Island Impact on Energy Burden Among Socially Vulnerable Groups

Abstract

Urban areas are home to majority of the world's population. According to the U.S. Census, more than 80% of the US population was urban in 2020. In 2020, 40% of the energy in the US was consumed by residential and commercial sectors (EIA 2022). Urban Heat Island (UHI), a consequence of urbanization (and use/cover distribution, impervious surface, urban morphology, building type and materials, vegetation and green infrastructure, transportation, among others), is characterized by temperature difference between an urban area and its surroundings. UHI also influences energy consumption. Li et al. (2019) reported that UHI could result in a median increase of 19% in cooling energy consumption and a median decrease of 18.7% in heating energy consumption. The authors reported that UHI impacts could contribute to an increase in cooling energy consumption (by 10-120% and a decrease of heating energy consumption (by 3-45%) among cities.