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Climate change threatens IT infrastructure disruption

How to make IT infrastructure resilient against extreme weather

  • min read
    • Almost nothing in the world will be unaffected by climate change. From more storms and wildfires to rising sea levels, the impact of extreme weather events will only grow. Infrastructure, too, faces tough challenges from sudden and damaging floods, hurricanes and heatwaves. IT networks and systems, and the vital data they hold, may be most at risk. We've already seen what can happen. Wildfires can take out cell towers, preventing those affected from calling for help. Flooding has taken on a UK data center used by a mobile phone network. Businesses that plan to rely on driverless tech should be aware it's not yet working well in severe weather. For enterprises, preparing for the impacts of climate change is no substitute for doing all they can today to reduce emissions and sequester (store) carbon. But business and IT leaders can protect their vital IT infrastructure for more extreme times ahead. Why invest in infrastructure resilience? According to 2018 OECD policy paper, Climate Resilient Infrastructure, if we don't adapt infrastructure, climate change will increase extreme weather infrastructure damage in Europe ten-fold by the end of the century. Bryan Strawser, CEO of experts in crisis management and business continuity Bryghtpath, expects climate change and its associated risks will have a growing impact on IT resilience and business continuity in the coming years. "We'll see impacts from physical risks like flooding and a continued increase in extreme weather events. There will be changes in how we think about using power, water and other natural resources. It will impact large data centers and other technologies that use these resources," Strawser told me. What business leaders should consider When assessing risk from climate change, business leaders must consider a wide range of impacts. There are urgent short-term issues, like intense rainfall and cyclones, and chronic long-term problems like rising sea levels and temperature increases. But with the right partners and resilience plans, business can successfully manage the challenges climate disruption will bring. Dealing with each issue in isolation is unworkable because of the sheer number of events that could pose a threat. Strawser advises that instead, work out a comprehensive IT resilience program aligned with your business continuity plans. "It's critical your C-suite and board have good visibility of the overall resilience program. Align the program with the organization's sustainability strategy and goals to ensure unified effort across the organization," Strawser says. Raising the environmental standard of business While IT infrastructure's contribution to carbon emissions is comparatively small, there is a role for IT managers and leaders in establishing sustainability frameworks internally around things like IT procurement, choosing data centers and adopting other solutions that reduce emissions. Mike Davis, Executive Business Consultant at business and IT consultancy Waterstons, highlights the role of meeting international standards. "ICT managers should encourage and take part in organizational compliance with standards like ISO 14001, which covers practical tools to manage environmental responsibilities, and ISO 50001, for energy management." He adds, "[Companies should] consider supporting change to their organization's fundamental stakeholder value proposition by seeking B Corp membership or something similar." B Corporations are certified as meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. IT climate risk is risk on a new scale No two organizations will take the same approach to securing their IT infrastructure, as the exact climate change resilience strategies are unique to an organization's own risks. For some enterprises, data centers will need extra protection or relocating, while others may need strengthened alternative communication lines to ensure backup is available in areas prone to weather disruption. Join forces with others One company may have a limited impact on the global climate, but efforts amplify when organizations work together to build up industry capabilities and technologies. Spending time and money researching new and improved ways to construct IT infrastructure can pay dividends by reducing risk long-term. Luis Neves, CEO of Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI,) supporting IT firms to act sustainably, believes we must encourage a new wave of research and development "centered on climate-resilient innovation, aiming to generate energy-efficient gadgets and components fit for forecasted climate circumstances and to promote ICT user and sector adaptation." Neves also thinks, "This could spur new learning processes inside the industry and help it adapt to climate change by increasing flexibility and diversity." Getting fast responses right For businesses that don't set up a clear and comprehensive strategy to address IT resilience issues, unforeseen weather episodes can cause far more damage than for those who create a plan when climate change-driven events strike. Neves says Deutsche Telekom shows how an organization should respond to devastating damage to IT infrastructure. Extensive flooding in Germany in July 2021 destroyed or damaged much IT infrastructure, with around 250,000 people losing mobile network connection. Deutsche Telekom immediately set up a fast reaction team and four-phase plan. First, they created a single point of truth for customer help, then tackled technical and network disaster recovery. Finally, they set up a company-wide emergency team. With catastrophic weather events growing in frequency, business must adapt to a new normal where damage to IT infrastructure is common. Through comprehensive planning, they can be more competitive and ensure the availability of life-saving communication lines. "These effects are already felt and will only worsen," says Neves of GeSI. "Long-term plans that address national priorities for sustainable development and progress toward international commitments will be crucial."
smart grids business benefits

Why smart energy grids are a powerful opportunity for business

  • min read
    • Access to electricity is an important driver of well-being in emerging economies, enabling healthcare, education and economic prosperity. In 2021, numbers without electricity worldwide hit an all-time low of 768 million people, or just 3 percent of the world's population. As our use of electricity expands, so too do the challenges of making it sustainable, affordable and reliable. Thankfully, alongside improved technology for renewable energy, smart electrical grids are here to help. How can business benefit from a smarter energy supply? What is a smart electricity grid? A smart grid is one where an IT network connects and controls all components, from energy supply to transport to the consumer. Smart grids makes it possible to reduce costs and energy consumption through intelligent control, reducing and balancing local energy fluctuations. A related idea is the microgrid: Smaller, standalone electricity systems designed to be self-sufficient. Take, for example, Scottish island Eigg's community-owned microgrid, using 90 to 95 percent renewable energy, or the US military island Miramar, powered by solar energy and landfill gas. How business can benefit from smart grids and microgrids Smart grids don't just have advantages for energy suppliers or large companies with powerful electrical plants and system components. Communities or smaller companies can benefit from smart microgrids, saving on energy costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To create a smart grid, certain standards must be defined for it to work properly, but companies can easily implement microgrids. An intelligent microgrid adapted to the energy needs of a company can reduce energy demand and so the environmental footprint. Examples of smart businesses using smart energy German energy company Sonnen Group has a successful smart grid business model using a virtual energy storage cloud. It sells affordable home energy storage systems which work together as a virtual power plant, so the company and customer both control power for the electrical grid. Another German company, aWATTar, provides flexible electricity tariffs to shift demand to sunny or windy periods, relieving the grid and promoting renewable energy expansion. Security risks for smart grids Critical infrastructure such as energy is an attractive target for cybercriminals. In 2021 a ransomware attack shut down a major US fuel pipeline and in that same year, an IBM report found energy has risen up the ranks to become the third most attacked sector. Future trends and opportunities in smart energy The energy sector has changed much in recent years, thanks to economic, political and environmental factors. The European energy crisis which has driven high energy prices is projected to last into 2023. Smart energy must be designed flexibly so energy systems can adapt quickly to future trends. Companies should consider the likely need to adapt to future energy market changes when designing their smart solutions. If they want to see more businesses adopt smart grids, governments and authorities could define standards, clarify the legal framework and offer incentives through funding programs. Climate change has brought many challenges for individuals, businesses and countries. It also means opportunities for greater efficiency and adopting technologies that can mean we live healthier, safer and more productive lives. Smart grids are a powerful technology that properly secured, should be central to future energy strategy for businesses and nations.
on demand transport

Why employers are noticing high-tech, on-demand public transit

  • min read
    • Although it offers significant carbon reductions on the private car as a means of transport, public transportation isn't famed for comfort. But what if your post-pandemic commute involved leather seats, air-conditioning and Wi-Fi? Kura is an emerging company that hopes to reinvent the office commute with tech-optimized corporate shuttle buses. Kura's software uses postcode analysis to calculate optimal pick-up points for employees at public transport stops or residential hubs. It's public in the sense they can convert these pick-ups into published timetable that could be shared with multiple employers. They've already had great success in the 'school run' market. Kura's Commuting to 2025 report highlights how the return to the office and fears of catching COVID-19 will likely lead to a spike in people using cars for commuting. Its survey of 2,000 UK workers found 42 percent plan to return to the office full-time or hybrid working (partly at home partly in the office) and half of those plan to commute by petrol or diesel car. 60 percent cite infection control and lack of social distancing on public transport as concerns. The Cambridge Globalism Project found similar results, with 23 percent of UK adults saying they planned to travel more by car post-pandemic. Before the pandemic, around 17 percent of UK workforce used public transport to commute, but the proportion was much higher in populous cities. Some urban areas have seen public transit use decline as much as 60 percent. Kura believes it addresses many passenger concerns with pre-booked spaces, distanced seating plans and regular vehicle sanitization. Considering carbon emissions and employee demand Kura chief executive Godfrey Ryan thinks the on-demand public transportation market needs to be built up. He says their research shows 63 percent of employees favor employers that offer commuting support. Still, only 30 percent of London businesses are considering doing this – an expectation gap between employees and employers. But he thinks there's a changing tide, as employers look to their employee benefit packages to compete for talent and pressure increases for businesses to reach net-zero emissions. "We're getting a lot of interest from UK employers re-focussing on carbon neutrality post-lockdown. Alternatives to single-occupancy car use, such as shared transport, helps meet net-zero targets and this sustainability effort increases their appeal to employees," he notes. Around one-fifth of businesses worldwide have made net-zero targets. Millenials and Gen Z especially are increasingly examining employers' environmental credentials as they decide where to share their talents. "In London, employers with a command-and-control approach have relied on their employees enduring the inconvenience and cost of the commute without impact on staff satisfaction and retention. This is changing." Employee shuttles aren't new. Silicon Valley tech giants including Google, Facebook and others are renowned for transport perks, with dedicated teams managing employee transport demand and encouraging greener commuting. Chief Policy Officer for Bay Area urban advocates SPUR, Nick Josefowitz, argues to avoid pre-pandemic traffic levels returing, "all larger employers (should) take more responsibility for getting their workers to work and back home...in a way that minimizes their impact on climate and air quality." A flexible spin on a familiar transport model Flexibility is an area where many emerging commuting tech businesses are innovating. Amiad Solomon, co-founder and CEO of corporate commuting app Hip, suggests flexibility is the future of commuting. Hip raised 12 million US dollars in capital in 2021. Google revealed in a webinar with the Mineta Transport Institution (MTI) that it's relaunching its on-demand shuttle when its employees move from remote to hybrid working in late 2021. It piloted the program in 2019 and 2020, adding to its scheduled services from San Francisco to its campuses. The new on-demand service lets employees living in neighboring communities request a shared minivan ride within two morning and evening periods, Monday to Friday. During its pilot, it gave more than 7,500 rides to nearly 900 Google employees. The most popular days are Tuesday to Thursday, which may mirror in-office days for many. They're working on how to cover more flexible hours and avoid empty return trips. MTI researchers evaluating the pilot say whether it takes off beyond Silicon Valley remains to be seen. On-demand transport needs employer and public sector support The growing on-demand public transport market is gaining traction all over the world. Australian-led startup The Routing Company is already running on-demand, fixed-rate, shared minivan rides in Scotland, Australia and the US. We must work with communities to unlock public transit's potential for users and the environment, says Routing Company's founder James Cox. Yet large investment needed upfront and beyond has given varied results for on-demand public transport in other markets. Its selling point was, "cheaper than a taxi but more flexible than a bus." PickMeUp attracted good passenger numbers but wasn't commercially sustainable. The pilot proved there is high demand for ride-sharing services, but we need extra funding to make it viable," a GoAhead spokesperson says. "Demand-responsive services need partnership with the public sector and/or local employers to make it work. The council contracts our North Lincolnshire scheme, so there we can build a customer base without revenue risk." Putting the onus on employers to lead in commuter transport Do employers have the captive audience, capital and motivation to transform commuting comfort, convenience and sustainability? Andy Taylor thinks so – he's senior director of global strategy at transport industry tech platform Cubic Transportation Systems. "There's a lot of potential in companies providing on-demand mobility as a job perk, instead of getting things like a company car," Taylor observes. Taylor notes stumbling blocks in making companies more aware and trust in private, on-demand shared transport – perhaps reasons trial take-up has been slow. Google invested heavily in an internal email marketing campaign for its on-demand shuttle. Customer experience is the main evaluation criteria. They measure to make sure riders are picked up within a maximum timeframe, as close as possible to home and have enough space on the journey. For companies who've chosen to make the most of the employee appeal of on-demand transport, "enjoying the ride" has become central to their employer brand. With transport making up 14 percent of global carbon emissions and the pandemic threatening the viability of some public transit systems, new ways to minimize travel's environmental impact are always welcome.
satellite monitoring

How satellites are becoming a crucial weapon against climate change

  • min read
    • This decade is critical in the fight against climate change. We're starting to experience its repercussions in our daily lives, and many governments now understand scientists' projections mean they must enact more stringent sustainability measures. With decarbonization policy, green energy overhauls and pollution taxes agreed as the best solution, government and industry must develop affordable, workable sustainability technologies. An eye on the Arctic European Space Agency (ESA)'s Mark Drinkwater explains, "Throughout the satellite era, polar scientists pointed to the Arctic as a harbinger of more widespread global impacts of climate change. As the events of 2020 make their marks in the climate record, it's evident a 'green' low-carbon Europe alone is insufficient to combat the effects of climate change." Our acute understanding of the scale of the problem we face is thanks in part to climate-monitoring satellites. While weather satellites have been in our skies since the Space Race days, observation platforms for environmental monitoring achieved lift-off in the 2000s. These satellites track disasters like wildfires, hurricanes and oil spills, and longer-term shifts in temperature, loss of polar ice and changes in the jet streams. ESA's Copernicus Program delivers expansive climate monitoring services using their Sentinel satellites. Copernicus recently reported July 2020 as the third warmest July on record and several heatwaves and wildfires in the Arctic Circle. Multiplying like wildfire Arctic permafrost contains some of the most carbon-rich soils of any environment, safely frozen for centuries. As it thaws, it releases stores of CO2 and particles, causing an exponential warming cycle, particularly when subjected to wildfires – common in the Arctic as they are elsewhere. Multiplier events like these have scientists worried that politicians' optimistic predictions are far-fetched. The next wave of Sentinel systems is gearing up as Copernicus 2.0 gains momentum. One candidate mission is the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) platform, a microwave radiometer giving all-weather, high-resolution estimation of ocean and sea-ice features like temperature and salinity. Another is the CRISTAL mission, measuring sea ice thickness and snow depth with a dual-frequency radar altimeter and microwave radiometer. ESA's Director for Earth Observation, Josef Aschbacher, explains, "These missions will provide new year-round monitoring throughout the Arctic and CO2 emissions data to support the European Green Deal." Early warning of disasters could save lives The sharp end of environmentally turbulent times is the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters. In April 2021, ESA awarded a three-year contract to develop a natural disaster early warning system to a consortium including a maritime satellite communications provider, an independent research group and a meteorological tech developer. Aiming to help governments with emergency response, it will use a reliable, mobile satellite network and earth-based internet of things (IoT) infrastructure to alert at-risk populations to danger. "We aim to demonstrate using a secure satellite communication‑IoT solution to help civil government reduce risks from geohazards like avalanches, debris flow and floods," said senior researcher Ivan Depina. The project will be trialed in Trøndelag, Norway, a region whose geology and climate make it especially susceptible to natural disasters like landslide and flood. Sounding the alarm on commodity-driven deforestation Constant monitoring at satellite scale could prove a powerful defense for vital natural ecosystems like forests and peatland, under threat from irresponsible agriculture, natural disasters and climate change impacts. One satellite sustainability project making a stir in this arena is Ecometrica's Forests 2020 project, funded by the UK Space Agency's International Partnerships Programme (IPP.) The satellite sustainability reporting service worked with the Ghana Forestry Commission and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to map land use across Ghana and segregate cocoa agriculture from natural forests. The Ecometrica platform, the new map and other satellite-based data like deforestation alerts mean commodity trading companies can have their environmental impact more accurately assessed to help stamp out deforestation. Ecometrica also works on soy, oil palm and tobacco projects, producing data commodity trading companies can use to regulate their activities and inform environmental protection investment. "To make an impact, satellite-derived insights must be delivered in ways decision-makers in government and the private sector understand. Forests 2020 made clear governments and companies can use this kind of information to understand their impacts and climate risks, and take action," says Ecometrica's McGregor. "Satellite-based monitoring is an affordable way to monitor ecosystems at scale, guiding priority interventions, investment needed to protect threatened ecosystems and future risks to these regions from climate change." NASA leading the charge NASA on their climate research and monitoring goals for 2022 and beyond In 2021 NASA asked the US government to increase funding for their work, including climate monitoring. The administration had already established a Senior Climate Advisor at NASA to prioritize environmental objectives. A large part of NASA's new climate work includes the Earth System Observatory, connecting satellites data to produce a "3D, holistic view of Earth, from bedrock to atmosphere," useful for tracking climate change, improving conservation and disaster mitigation. "I've seen first-hand the impact of hurricanes made more intense and destructive by climate change," explains NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson. "[Our] response to climate change matches the magnitude of the threat: A whole of government, all-hands-on-deck approach." The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's 2017 to 2027 Earth Science Survey, outlining climate science objectives like air quality forecasting, drought assessment and ecosystem carbon fluxes, informed the observatory's design. Senator Nelson continued, "Over the past three decades, much of what we've learned about the changing climate is built on NASA satellite observations and research. NASA's new Earth System Observatory will expand that work, providing the world with an unprecedented understanding of Earth's climate system, arming us with next-generation data critical to mitigating climate change, and protecting our communities in the face of natural disasters." Scientists know well the extent of climate change and national organizations are starting to act. With corporations following suit, we could have the power to reverse climate change's worst-case scenario, a genuinely apocalyptic 4 degrees warmer world. With the best tools identifying the options to move forward, we cannot afford to ignore their observations. Our eyes in orbit see the bigger picture unfolding.
data cooling center

How Ireland is using waste heat from data centers to warm homes

  • min read
    • Home to the physical servers that keep the Cloud aloft, data centers have become vital pieces of global IT infrastructure. These centers now provide computing horsepower for billions of connected devices. But our digitized world needs a lot of energy to function. Data centers consume over 1 percent of the world's electricity. With thousands of servers to run and keep cool, large data centers can use as much electricity as a small city. Ireland's favorable geography and regulation have so far attracted over 70 data centers, powering global Cloud services for tech giants like Microsoft and TikTok. Managing the energy footprint of data centers is a challenge that will only grow. Ireland's energy regulator says data centers could use almost 30 percent of the country's electricity by 2027, endangering climate goals. Adding to the energy toll, over 75 percent of data center electricity becomes waste heat. Could the way data centers act like giant radiators help reduce some of their climate impact? Data centers make great heaters Ireland's weather is famously cold and wet at almost any time of year. Keeping homes and businesses warm, mostly using gas or oil boilers, makes up nearly a third of Ireland's carbon emissions. For John O'Shea, Energy Systems Analyst at Dublin energy agency Codema, the synergy between Ireland's heating needs and its data centers' waste heat is clear. "In winter, a data center can provide heating up to 85 degrees Celsius similar to a gas boiler, with better energy efficiency than a heat pump in a new house." O'Shea and his team are part of the Tallaght District Heating Scheme through the EU-funded Heat Net project. And it's on track to turn data center heat waste into a sustainable heat source for the Dublin suburb's homes and businesses. From 2022, water cooling servers in Tallaght's Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center will be upcycled through a new district heating network. A new way to approach an old solution As a way to heat buildings collectively in urban areas, district heating schemes are nothing new. In Scandinavia, the 1970s oil crisis made sustainable heating a priority for urban planners. In Copenhagen, almost 95 percent of heating comes from reused waste heat from factories and other heat emitters. Although data centers have been used to power existing district heating networks in Scandinavia, Tallaght might be first to build a new heating network around a data center. Using data center waste heat to provide low cost, sustainable heating is a rare win-win climate solution. O'Shea says, "From phase one, we'll save 1,500 tonnes of CO2 each year by using something that's otherwise vented into the atmosphere." He thinks the solution has global potential, pointing to a paper he co-authored showing unconventional heat sources like data centers could provide 10 percent of the EU's total heating and hot water. With efficient heating comes efficient cooling The district heating program also helps reduce another big environmental impact of data centers: Water use. Many data centers use evaporated water to cool servers. At peak times, one data center can use over a million liters of water a day. In return for transferring waste heat to the network, the center gets cooler water back, reducing or even removing the need for evaporation cooling. O'Shea says the system's benefits go even further. "Because our network is always monitoring heat output, we've got an extra set of eyes on the health of the data center cooling system." This extra monitoring could save money and hardware damage – a recent study of 41 data centers by leading digital infrastructure provider Vertiv found the average cost of a downtime event was over 506,000 US dollars. The most common cause was power or cooling failures. Beyond district heating Paul Deane, a researcher fellow at Ireland's MaREI Environment Research Institute, agrees the Tallaght heating solution has big potential but notes combining data centers with district heating "is not a magic bullet." Deane points out that in Ireland alone, data centers may contribute "around 1 million tonnes [of C02] each year by 2030." He thinks data center energy use demands a combined approach. "We need proactive solutions like district heating and other measures like greater renewable energy use and carbon offsetting." Some in the Irish parliament have described growing numbers of data centers when the government is reaffirming its commitment to a carbon-neutral future as "out of control," but Deane sees a silver lining. "You can look at data centers in two ways: As part of the problem or part of the solution. I like to look at them as a solution." He adds, "We need data centers, but we also need them to be cleaner." For Deane, proactive solutions like Tallaght's district heating system are a step in the right direction. With free heat from an industrial by-product and dramatically reduced CO2 emissions and water use, it's hard to argue with that.

How a digital copy of itself is helping Singapore find climate solutions

  • min read
    • Singapore's light-up trees, sparkling skyscrapers and robot delivery companies make the 21st-century Southeast Asian metropolis look like it's already in the next century. But the financial hub city-state is now making leaps in the fight for the environmental future every global city faces, thanks to a copy of itself. Digital Climate Urban Twin (DUCT) is a digital city using 3D semantic modeling designed to help Singapore plan its future. It can display buildings, streets and different modes of transport and plug-in other real-time information like climate, traffic flow and energy use. Singapore's environmental challenges It's worse than a natural disaster: The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says extreme heat poses more human health risk than tornados, hurricanes and floods. It's happening because Singapore is subject to the Urban Heat Island effect. Heat gets stored through the day in artificial materials like asphalt and concrete, then released at night. Dr. Winston Chow, Associate Professor of Science and Technology at Singapore Management University, says city living compounds the heat island effect: "Urban elements like vehicles and air-conditioning units emit a lot of waste heat." How the digital twin helps urban design The Digital Urban Climate Twin (DUCT) was created by a Singapore-​ETH Centre, a Swiss and Singaporean research partnership. It receives real-time information on things like climate, traffic and building energy expenditure so urban planners, engineers and architects can see how these forces could affect a proposed building. It lets try 'what if?' scenarios and examine proposed solutions to environmental issues. Professor Gerhard Schmitt of the Singapore-ETH Centre says, "Many cities use simple digital twins to look at energy or transport concerns, but DUCT does more in terms of temperature and outdoor thermal comfort for people." Green architecture expert Chiara Calufetti-Lim says in times past, they would manually collect the information DUCT provides. Teams would count cars and buses driving along a thoroughfare or take a 3D model of a proposed building to a wind tunnel to see how it affected airflow. And Calufetti-Lim says the information they've traditionally worked with is about the building, not its surroundings. "With this extra information, you can consider nearby structures," says Calufetti-Lim. "If there is a building next door with a reflective glass façade, we can use this tool to anticipate its impact." Calufetti-Lim's colleague, master planner and urban designer Chris Panfil, says DUCT's extra information for architects and planners could be good and bad. "Too many options can confuse the client. It's exciting but adds another level of editing for the designer or architect." Applying the digital twin to urban challenges The success of DUCT, says Singapore-ETH Centre's Schmitt, relies on using and maintaining it. "It needs to be supported and shared by all involved in managing, planning and running a city," he says. Town planners in Singapore's Yuhua district have already used the digital twin to plan how to integrate a pedestrian bridge over one of its highways with local parks. Another Yuhua program is also using the twin to look at how to enhance pedestrian networks with more environmentally friendly solar panels and sensor-controlled LED lighting. While DUCT is new, Singapore has long been fighting to reduce temperatures with architecture and nature. In 2006, it opened the world's largest underground district cooling system. By 2023, it will open Singapore's first smart, sustainable town: Tengah. The nature-centered neighborhoods will have a car-free town center. Singapore has also turned to natural solutions to cut air pollution and increase shade. It plans to plant one million trees over the next 10 years, creating tree-filled Nature Ways along highways to make streets cooler and more pleasant and for all households to be no more than a 10-minute walk from a park by 2030. Professor Gerhard Schmitt says planting can help curb the Urban Heat Island effect, but cities must realize it can hinder more than help if done incorrectly. "In parts of Europe or Australia with dry air, trees provide cooling by evaporation and shade, but in the Tropics with its high humidity, the evaporation is lower," says Schmitt. "If you plant trees too close to a building that gets sun during the day, they might trap heat and stop the area cooling at night." Schmitt adds that air won't pass through tightly planted trees. "You must plant trees at the right distances, or it can be counterproductive," says Schmitt. "DUCT also deals with this." Game-changing solution for cities DUCT can be rolled out for any city. Dmytriy Pereklita, President of DK Studio Architects, which has offices in North America and Asia, says DUCT is "a game-changer in analyzing existing cities but also in planning new cities and communities." Pereklita thinks the construction industry needs innovation. "Building is generally slow, and feedback takes years. Constant data and almost immediate feedback mean a chance for faster turnaround and improvement." Professor Schmitt says DUCT wants to stop environmental issues compounding. Schmitt says DUCT should be seen as a long-term solution. "A city takes a long time to be built and rebuilt. A typical city in Europe renews itself at most, one to two percent a year. But if you have DUCT, you can plan long-term and adjust." He believes DUCT can help create more livable cities across the globe. "The temperature of cities and pollution and noise levels will go down, and people's health will benefit," adds Schmitt.
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