Project to combat heat islands in the municipality of Latina

The project involved a 3,000 square metre car park in the municipality of Latina, where the impermeable surface area of the asphalt and concrete car park was reduced to combat the generation of heat islands through:

• 945 square metres of lawn
• 880 square metres of photocatalytic concrete grid lawn
• 1,175 square metres of photocatalytic filtering concrete interlocking paving
• 320 square metres of photocatalytic concrete with a high Solar Reflex Index (SRI) for parking spaces for people with disabilities
• 25 Fraxinus excelsiur trees planted
• 35 shrubs planted: Spartium Junceum (broom), Pistacia Lentiscus (mastic), Euonymus pulchellos; Phyllirea Angustifolia
• Plants irrigated with rainwater collected from the car park, treated with an oil separator and stored in an underground tank with a capacity of approximately 45,000 litres.

Following extensive research and a multidisciplinary approach, important technological innovations have been introduced: photocatalytic filter materials with a high Solar Reflex Index. The entire rainwater collection system has also been studied and designed with the installation of a monumental tank that can hold up to 45,000 litres of water with a view to reuse and virtuous use, but with an overall vision focused on the long-term resolution of an increasingly pressing problem in urban centres.

The images taken by our experts’ thermal camera show normal asphalt at around 28°C, while the photocatalytic concrete with high SRI is at 10-11°C, the grey photocatalytic concrete tiles are at 14°C, the red photocatalytic concrete tiles are at 18°C, and the photocatalytic concrete grid lawn at 18°C.

The photos were taken on the same day and under the same weather conditions. The result of the project is the creation of more liveable urban spaces through solutions that counteract the effects of climate change on the population