Thermal and microclimatic behavior of OASIS schoolyard paving materials

As part of its Resilience Strategy, the City of Paris' OASIS program aims to contribute ot its adaptation to heatwaves and climate change by transforming schoolyards into climate shelters, namely via desealing and greening. In this context, a variety of alternative pavement materials have been proposed to replace the initial schoolyard pavement, composed of an asphalt sidewalk structure. In the context of the EU-funded ERDF UIA OASIS project, the thermal performance of these alternative materials and their impact in terms of urban cooling was explored. To this aim, five samples of reference and innovative schoolyard pavements were studied in the lab under heat-wave conditions. Alternative green, biosourced, recycled and reflective pavement solutions were compared to standard fine-aggregate asphalt concrete. Their performance was evaluated with regards to their contribution to the urban heat island phenomenon and to pedestrian heat stress, account for the typical use schedule of schoolyards. Green and biosourced materials were found to perform well for both indicators, while the standard and recycled solutions had poor UHI performance but had limited negative effects on daytime heat stress. The reflective pavement had better UHI performance but had high radiosity during daytime which can negatively affect pedestrian heat stress.