United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Open Pedagogy Fellowship
Exploring a solution to the Urban Heat Island effect: Extensive green roofs
Dr. C. Thuring, Kwantlen Polytechnic University (BC, Canada)
Dr. M. Pereira, Pima Community College (Arizona)
Dr. D. Hingeland, Thompson Rivers University (BC, Canada)
Introduction:

2022-2023

Welcome to your role in an international mission. This mission is dedicated to expanding
educational access and championing student empowerment through "open pedagogy." In this
approach, you, as a student, are at the heart of an engaging, collaborative learning environment,
with the freedom to access your educational journey. What is this mission's ultimate goal? To
heighten social justice in our community, promoting the free exchange of knowledge and work.
Under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, this renewable
assignment paves your path to becoming an agent of change within your community. Prepare to
embark on this transformative journey.
For this work, we will integrate the disciplines of Horticulture, Physics and Astronomy, and HR
to achieve the primary goal of responding to SDG #13: Climate Action. Within this SDG, we will
focus on the specific targets 13.1: "Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related
hazards and natural disasters in all countries;" target 13.2: "Integrate climate change measures
into national policies, strategies and planning;" and target 13.3: "Improve education, awarenessraising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact
reduction, and early warning." This assignment also focuses on SDG #11: Sustainable Cities and
Communities; SDG #3: Good Health and Well-Being; SDG #10: Reduced Inequalities; and SDG
#9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
Purpose:
Learning about the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and green roof technology, students are given a
gateway perspective into (municipal) climate action. By mapping existing green roofs, students
employ technical and cognitive skills. By mapping potential green roofs, students employ
additional skills of strategy and critical thought. The way by which this activity links up with
community-based leadership may inspire the civic, academic, career, and personal lives of
students.

Learning Objectives:
Students will learn about extensive green roof (EGR) technology, including the parts, how they
function, and why many cities incentivize/ promote them. Students will calculate existing green
roof coverage for the city relevant to the class and identify buildings for green roof retrofit.
After successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
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Evaluate the feasibility and options for EGRs on existing buildings;
Describe the general principles and benefits of EGRs to the urban climate and beyond;
Define roof types appropriate for EGR retrofit;
Explain the process of evapotranspiration in the urban context and how it relates to UHI
Assess/ predict how EGR retrofits will alleviate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and improve
liveability
Identify leadership skills needed to promote solutions that improve local liveability
through SDG 13 Climate Action

Instructions:
For the city relevant to the class, students will 1) calculate existing green roof coverage and 2)
identify "hot spots" of green roof potential (ideally using the thermal heat maps generated in
Assignment 1). Every roof/ building will be described according to the given template (name,
address, height, roof area, etc). To ensure effective use of time and effort, class members will
collaborate in the creation of the database.
1) Existing green roof cover: Measure the surface area (m2 or sf) using a tool like Google Earth.
Artifact: a "snapshot" of existing green roof coverage for that city that, along with an estimate of
overall roof cover, to generate percent cover
2) Potential green roof cover: Measure the surface area (m2 or sf) of potential extensive green
roofs (whether retrofit or new) in an area of greatest economy and effectiveness (e.g., flat-roofed
commercial or industrial districts) or in the "hot spots" identified with the heat maps generated in
Assignment 1.

Format Requirements:
Students will enter their measurements and related data into a given template, which is connected
to the database for the mapping tool. In addition to surface area measurements, students will enter
150-word descriptions for each building/ polygon as relevant (e.g., location, socio-economic
characteristics, demographic issues).

Assessment Criteria:
The database template will require that all information be entered completely and correctly;
incorrect or incomplete entries may be filtered and blocked. An assessment rubric will facilitate
grading.

Exploring a solution to the Urban Heat Island effect: Extensive green roofs is licensed by Dr.
C. Thuring, Kwantlen Polytechnic University (BC, Canada); Dr. M. Pereira, Pima Community
College (Arizona); and Dr. D. Hingeland, Thompson Rivers University (BC, Canada) under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA)