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Mitigation and Adaptation Interactions: Heat-wave Responses in Vancouver

Explore how mitigation and adaptation efforts coincide in addressing heat-wave responses, particularly in Vancouver. Learn about excess mortality during heat waves, feedback influencing institutional response, and the puzzle pieces of implementing effective adaptation strategies alongside mitigation measures.

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Mitigation and Adaptation Interactions: Heat-wave Responses in Vancouver

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  1. Mitigation and Adaptation Interactions:Heat-wave Responses in Vancouver May 2011 CEDM Annual Meeting Hadi Dowlatabadi, Tim McDanielsand Amanda Procter

  2. Introduction/Summary Issue • Mitigation and adaption interact. • Yet, they are often treated as independent activities. • Mitigation of building emissions should not lead to elimination of A/C. Decision-makers: • 13 Municipal government planners (Metro Vancouver) • Architects and developers • Public health officials

  3. Local Details • Mild summers in Vancouver has led to few buildings with AC. • Also, the population are among the most vulnerable in Canada to climate extremes. • Yet officials were taken by surprise by ~200 deaths attributed to heat waves in 2009.

  4. Excess Mortality During Heat Waves of 2009 • There were ~200 excess deaths in the summer of 2009. • The death of a homeless person prompted a Heat Wave response plan. • If France had a similar rate of attrition 20,500 (not 15,000) would have perished in 2003.

  5. Feedback and Institutional Response • A well-publicized homeless death has led the City of Vancouver to “develop a heat-wave emergency plan.” • No plans in the other 12 municipal governments

  6. Parkinson’s Law

  7. Adaptation BEING IMPLEMENTED • Heat-wave alerts. • More green spaces PROVEN TO WORK • Public alerts to curtail outdoor activity. • Transport vulnerable populations to a cool refuge (≤ 24°C) for 2-4 hours per day.

  8. The Puzzle Pieces • Mitigation • LEED Gold mistakenly adopted as a metric of good GHG mitigation. • LEED Gold Buildings developers given special privileges. • LEED Gold status is much easier to achieve without HVAC. • Built Environment • Green Architects cannot meet internal temp target of 24C even now. • Green Architects are not using LCAs to refine high thermal mass designs. • Low GHG A/C technologies are available but not established with developers. • Adaptation • Public Health Officer has not adopted the right threshold for heatalerts. • Public Health Officer has not identified the vulnerable pops or their shelter. • The adaptation officers have low institutional standing.

  9. Summary • We are working with the City, PHO, A/E and developers on the interactions between mitigation and adaptation. • … next steps involve finding winning combinations of mitigation and adaptation for Metro Vancouver.

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