2024-04-18 12:04:01
During a heat wave, the heat stays longer in urban areas. More greenery and more shade helps keep it a little cooler in and around the house. What can you do yourself and what can you do together with your neighbors to combat that kind of heat stress in the city? We give tips for home, garden, balcony and street.
Heat stress is caused by buildings and roads absorbing the sun’s heat during the day. During the night they radiate that heat again, keeping the air warm after sunset. Besides, there is less wind in the city because there are more tall buildings. The hot air literally lingers. This is also known as the heat island effect. In extreme cases, the difference between the city and the countryside can be as much as 7 or 8 degrees. This can be clearly felt when cycling or walking out of the buildings on the edge of the city.
What can the government do against heat stress?
A city with lots of greenery suffers less heat stress. So it helps to create more parks and flower beds, install green roofs on bus shelters and other buildings and plant more trees. Trees provide shade and because they have deep roots, they are better able to draw water from the ground and evaporate it. That also provides cooling.
Landscaping in public spaces is the responsibility of the municipality, but as local residents you can of course ask for more trees and other greenery on the street. There are municipalities that are happy to serve active residents with good ideas. Sometimes this creates neighborhood gardens that the residents tend themselves.
What can you do yourself against heat stress?
There is a lot you can do against heat stress in and around your home. You’ll enjoy this for yourself, but your neighbors will too. The effect is even greater if everyone in the neighborhood takes one or more actions. You can do the following, among other things:
Green roof
A green roof it provides cooling in the summer months. With a green roof it is less hot in your own home and in the surrounding area. Sedum is a popular vegetation for green roofs, in part because these succulents are low maintenance and do not require a thick layer of soil. If you want the greatest effect from a green roof, a soil layer of about 40 centimeters is best. You can grow more types of plants on such a roof.
The environmental effect of a green roof will only be seen if many more neighbors start installing them. To promote this, some municipalities only provide subsidies for green roofs if residents work together. But there are also municipalities that provide subsidies to individual residents. You can check if you can apply for a subsidy on the Green Subsidy Guide.
Fewer tiles, more green
A garden with lots of stone keeps heat. A garden with more greenery is cooler and allows rainwater to drain more easily, reducing the risk of flooding. Do you want to reduce the amount of stone in your garden? Then you can go tile rocking, an activity for which some municipalities also offer subsidies and which even has a Dutch Championship. As a general rule, you can pave a maximum of 40 percent of your garden, for example for terraces and walkways. Replace the rest of the tiles with grass or plants.
Raising tile is a job you can do yourself. Remove a 30 centimeter layer of sand and replace it with garden soil. The plants get nutritious soil there. You then need to give the excavated sand and removed tiles a new purpose. If you cannot use it for another project, you can check if the municipality will collect it. Maybe you can make a local resident happy with it.
Garden facade or green facade
Don’t have a front and/or back yard, but would you like even more greenery around your home? Maybe you can make a facade garden. You will then remove a few tiles on the face to create a green strip. You can follow the same method described above. Check first with the municipality and, if necessary, the landlord whether it is permitted.
You can also expand a facade garden into a green facade. You then allow your climbing plant to grow against a grid that you first attached to the facade. A green face also ensures that heat does not penetrate easily through the wall.
A tree or shrub in your garden
If you have room for it, one a tree in your garden great cooler. If the tree is a little bigger, you can sit in the shade of the canopy during the summer. Animals also like to cool off or find shelter in the tree. Choose a tree that can withstand the Dutch climate and drought. If you have less space, shrubs are another great option.
Garden vertically
Do you have a balcony but not much space? Then you can too vertical gardening. For example, you can hang containers and pots on your balcony or place them on a rack or stand. There are also special plant bags that you can hang. You can fill the bags with soil and seeds.
Or choose a hanging basket. This is a basket made of metal wire that you line on the inside with moss, twigs or an insert made of coconut fibers. Place a piece of waste plastic in there, for example from a bag of potting soil, and put the soil on top of it. Depending on the size of the basket, you can plant one or more hanging plants in it. Make a few holes in the plastic on the side so that excess water can drain. Hang up the basket and let the plant(s) grow.
Valves closed
Is there a heat wave going on? Then you need to immediately take effective measures to keep the indoor temperature at a pleasant level. A air conditioning works well, but not climate friendly. It only gets hotter outside. It’s better for the planet to keep the heat out. This means keeping the doors and windows closed during the day and making sure that the sun’s radiation cannot enter.
Sun protection on the outside is most effective for this. It is not without reason that houses in Mediterranean countries often have shutters on the outside. It also helps to keep thick, blackout curtains closed. It’s not time to let everything air out until it cools down in the evening.
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