While outdoor heat matters, people also experience high temperatures in their homes, schools, and workplaces. In fact, most heat-related deaths occur in people’s homes. Massachusetts buildings were historically designed to withstand cold winters, and older buildings typically lack the appropriate weatherization for both cold and hot weather. This results in occupants spending more energy and money to heat and cool their homes than they should. Many buildings also lack air conditioning, and even fewer have central air conditioning (AC) or air source heat pumps (ASHPs) that provide both clean heating and cooling.
“I lived in Malden all my life. We never had AC. I still don’t have AC. Last year a friend took my sister and I to Revere beach to cool down because our house was too hot.” - Heat Storytelling Project
Even if a home does have access to AC, residents may be unable to afford to run it given high electricity and utility costs. Nearly one in five households cut back on food, medicine, and other necessities to pay an energy bill. Additionally, many municipal buildings and schools - whether they are historic buildings or not - also have limited or no AC. Helping people to keep cool inside- while at home, school, or work- is critical to reducing illness and death during extreme heat events.
Actions municipalities can take include:
- Increasing knowledge of residential heat risks and coping strategies (especially among more sensitive populations)
- Improving access to affordable, energy-efficient indoor cooling solutions that do not increase energy burdens and improve access to AC as interim strategy
- Adapting programs that address energy insecurity and residential energy efficiency to better meet the needs of low-income, renter households and future climate conditions (less need for winter heating vs. greater need for summer cooling).
- Expanding research on thermal comfort thresholds and implement tenant protections to ensure safe habitation during the summer cooling season
Additionally, MAPC has worked on multiple projects related to cooling buildings. These include:
- Metro Mayors Coalition Cool Roofs Project. Cool Roofs are a near-term, low-cost strategy for reducing indoor and neighborhood heat. Developed with the Metro Mayors Climate Taskforce, this project includes a roof suitability tool, an educational toolkit, and guidance to help municipalities and property owners install roofs that reflect sunlight, lower cooling costs, and ease the urban heat island effect.
- Healthy Environments Advance Learning: the HEAL project was an initiative to give Massachusetts school districts training, tools, and support in order to improve learning environments for students, including managing extreme heat
Cooling buildings, improving communications, strengthening community, and growing the heat resilience of neighborhoods are all important pieces of overall extreme heat adaptation. No community must tackle them alone; regional collaboration can stretch capacity and resources further. So, please reach out if you have a question about anything we shared, a project idea, or just want to chat.
Thank you for joining MAPC this Heat Week!