EGU24-15460, updated on 09 Mar 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15460
EGU General Assembly 2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Cool pavements for adapting Paris to climate change

Charbel Abboud1,2, Sophie Parison1, Frédéric Filaine1, Martin Hendel1,3, Laurent Royon1, and Maïlys Chanial1,2
Charbel Abboud et al.
  • 1Université Paris Cité, Institut des Sciences Humaines et Sociales, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Energies de Demain, France
  • 2Ville de Paris, Directions de la Transition Ecologique et du Climat (DTEC) & de la Voirie et des Déplacements (DVD), Paris, France (charbel.abboud@paris.fr)
  • 3Univ Gustave-Eiffel, ESIEE Paris, département SEED, F-93162, Noisy-le-Grand, France

In order to adapt to climate change, cities are studying various urban cooling techniques to improve 
pedestrian thermal comfort of users during heatwaves including urban greening and cool materials [1,2]. On 
technique being considered by the City of Paris is cool pavements [3] . To this aim, an experimental test site 
has been constructed and instrumented to study the thermal and climatic behavior of candidate sidewalk 
structures.
The experimental demonstrator is located in Bonneuil-sur-Marne near Paris, France. This experimental 
device consists of 16 samples of various sidewalk structures [4]. Each sample is approximately 4x4m across 
by 25 cm deep and is composed of several layers following real-world conditions. The samples are 
instrumented with temperature and heat flow sensors at several depths, with the data recorded every 5 
minutes. Additional weather measurements are also conducted onsite to monitor air temperature and 
humidity, global horizontal short- and longwave irradiance as well as wind speed and direction. 
This communication is focused on data collected during the summers of 2021 and 2022, specifically 
temperatures and heat fluxes and the derived surface heat budget of each sample. These data from each 
strcture will be analyzed with respect to their contribution to the degradation of pedestrian thermal comfort 
as well as to the urban heat island effect in order to inform the city services in their selection of suited 
sidewalk materials. 
Additional testing inside a climate chamber will supplement the demonstrator test site with complementary 
measurements performed in the laboratory. 

References:

[1] H. Akbari, M. Pomerantz, and H. Taha, “Cool surfaces and shade trees to reduce energy use and improve 
air quality in urban areas,” Sol. Energy, vol. 70, no. 3, pp. 295–310, Jan. 2001.
[2] M. Chanial, G. Karam, S. Parison, M. Hendel and L. Royon. (2022). Microclimatic analysis of an 
experimental cooling watering device (in French).. CIFQ 2022, Paris (France).
[3] Santamouris, M. (2013). Using cool pavements as a mitigation strategy to fight urban heat island—A 
review of the actual developments. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 26, 224-240. 
[4] S. Parison, M. Chanial, F. Filaine and M. Hendel. (2022). Surface heat budget of sixteen pavement 
samples on an experimental test site in the Parisian region. SURF 2022, Milano (Italy).

How to cite: Abboud, C., Parison, S., Filaine, F., Hendel, M., Royon, L., and Chanial, M.: Cool pavements for adapting Paris to climate change, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15460, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15460, 2024.