Heat wave experts

The record-breaking heat that’s been melting airport runways in the U.K. and portions of the Tour de France route is driving home the often deadly impact of climate change and the need to take action to counter its effects.

Several Concordia experts are available to provide perspective on why so many areas are experiencing the sweltering heat as well as what changes will be necessary to withstand or even reduce these extreme events in the future.
 

Lingshan Li (lingshan.li@mail.concordia.ca)
PhD student, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment

Li recently wrote in The Conversation about how even small green space can help cool cities to mitigate the effects of extreme heat.

Hashem Akbari (Hashem.Akbari@concordia.ca)
Professor, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering and co-founder of The Global Cool Cities Alliance

Akbari’s research focuses on the impact of intelligent building technologies such as cooler roofing in reducing heat islands and global greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas.

Carmela Cucuzzella (Carmela.Cucuzzella@concordia.ca)
Associate professor, Department of Design and Computational Arts and founding co-director, Next-Generation Cities Institute

Cucuzzella is currently co-editing a book on the life cycle of building projects given their contribution of 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions and exploring more sustainable practices.
 

Ursula Eicker (Ursula.Eicker@concordia.ca)
Professor, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities

Eicker was instrumental in launching the new zero-carbon buildings accelerator, designed to help the real estate industry meet the new target of building only zero-carbon buildings by 2040 and retrofitting existing buildings to the same end. Eicker was head of the Concordia delegation at last November's COP 26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Damon Matthews (Damon.Matthews@concordia.ca)
Professor, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment and Concordia Research Chair in Climate Science and Sustainability

Matthews can explain why so many regions are experiencing record-breaking heat waves. His research also points to what actions will be most effective in mitigating the effects of climate change.

Raymond Paquin (Raymond.Paquin@concordia.ca)
Professor, Department of Management and past director, Loyola Sustainability Research Centre

Paquin can address how people’s increased awareness and experience of the impacts of climate change are forcing businesses to adopt sustainability-oriented innovation. He can also highlight several Canadian success stories founded on practices that go far beyond superficial “greening”.
 

Liangzhou (Leon) Wang (Leon.Wang@concordia.ca)
Professor, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and associate director, Centre for Zero Energy Building Studies

Wang recently chaired the International Conference of Building Energy and Environment, looking at how smart buildings and cities can better resist the impacts of climate change.

Alexandra Lesnikowski (Alexandra.Lesnikowski@concordia.ca)
Assistant professor, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment

Lesnikowski’s most recent research examines what steps people are taking to combat climate change and whether their actions are enough.