Key points
- University infrastructure uses air conditioning, shade structures and strategic building materials to mitigate student exposure to heat.
- Campus pools provide ways for students to stay cool, while pool personnel stay aware of dangers related to excessive heat exposure through activities like tanning.
- University strategies and students' awareness are crucial amid rising temperatures due to the dangers presented by heat-related illnesses, like heat stroke.
For those native to Arizona, a day with a temperature over 100 degrees would likely not get a second glance, especially in the summer months of June, July and August.
But even resident Arizonans, who regularly brave triple-digit temperatures, were caught off guard when those same temperatures were reached in the middle of March.
A 101-degree temperature in Phoenix on March 18 marked the earliest triple-digit temperature on record in the city, according to Fox 10 Phoenix. With these high temperatures coming earlier in the year than ever, ASU's heat mitigation strategies were called into action and relied on to keep students safe and cool on campus.
"The ASU facilities team is committed to ensuring that our buildings are cooled appropriately in our desert climate," a representative from ASU Facilities Development and Management said in a written statement. "They maintain miles of chilled water piping and mechanical units at each of the hundreds of buildings that comprise ASU at our various campuses."
In addition to air conditioning within indoor spaces, the University also considers architectural strategies for buildings and structures that can mitigate heat through shade.
"There have been some efforts to increase the amount of shade across campus using (Photovoltaic mounting) structures," Ariane Middel, a professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, said. "The best example is the PowerParasol in front of the (Memorial Union). I remember back in 2014 when this structure didn't exist, this space was really empty … Now that they have the solar structure, the park parasol, this space is really vibrant in the summer."
The type of materials used for certain buildings and shade structures also plays a role in mitigating heat, due to a phenomenon called an urban heat island, which contributes to higher temperatures, according to Pope Moseley, a professor in the College of Health Solutions.
An urban heat island is the process by which urban areas experience higher temperatures due to the materials used in the buildings absorbing and retaining more heat.
"All those buildings are kind of like a pizza oven — you generate heat to warm up the whole oven, and then it's the oven that cooks your pizza," Moseley said. "So all those brick buildings and asphalt and all that stuff, that's your pizza oven."
Strategies to offset the urban heat island are actively being considered by the ASU Facilities Development and Management team, which encourages the use of materials that "reduce heat gain on buildings" in their guidelines, according to the statement.
However, in spite of efforts to reduce heat in and around buildings and structures, in some campus areas, the lack of buildings or shade structures presents another issue for students in terms of heat exposure.
To give students a way to address this problem and avoid areas of prolonged heat exposure, Middel said she and other researchers at the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning have been working on developing a "thermal comfort routing app" to be used on campus.
"Students could go on a website, and they could say, 'I want to go from the bookstore to the Brickyard,' and then the tool would give them the route that's the coolest route, not necessarily the shortest," Middel said. "So it might be a slight detour, but then you would be routed through more shade."
Beyond cooling strategies within buildings and along walkways, rising temperatures also bring greater usage to resources like pools, which can be found at the Sun Devil Fitness Complex on each University campus.
"We see really big pool count numbers this time of year, and there's been a big jump, especially in March with the temperatures climbing," Ellie Schenk, the Aquatics and Safety Education program coordinator at the Tempe SDFC, said. "We've introduced some new things for students, to kind of stay active, like paddleboard yoga was started after spring break to stay active but also have a way to cool off."
Differences in pool operating hours across various campuses can mean that certain pools are only available during hotter parts of the day, and are non-operational during the cooler night hours.
"I'm not allowed to open our pool for longer than 35 hours a week, and some of our peak hours that we're open are during peak UV hours," said Patrick Fisher, the Sports and Aquatics coordinator for the Downtown Phoenix campus SDFC. "So I would love to have our pool open more during the night, when it's cooler out and safer for people to come out and enjoy the pool who don't want to tan."
Oftentimes, with tanning, students will come to the pool and not get in on a 100-degree day with a UV of 10. Being out by the pool for more than 30-35 minutes without reapplying sunscreen and hydrating can be dangerous, Fisher said.
"So, we just make sure our lifeguards are being diligent in those things," Fisher said.
Such prolonged heat exposure can give way to certain heat-related illnesses, and according to Moseley, one of the most important for students to be aware of is heat stroke.
Moseley said while heat stroke is unusual, it is still possible when overheated.
Moseley, Schenk and Fisher all said education from the University for students on these heat-related illnesses, as well as on heat mitigation strategies, is an important way to prioritize student safety as temperatures rise earlier and earlier in the year.
However, for all that the University is able to do in architectural design, shade structures, educational resources and more, Middel added that staying cool is inherently a shared responsibility between both the University and the students themselves.
"It's a combination of the outdoor environment, how it's designed and how it's set up, but then also personal behavior, because it's your choice, where you walk or where you eat your sandwich," Middel said. "There are adaptation measures that each individual could do."
Edited by Senna James, Jack McCarthy and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at sluba@asu.edu and follow @samluba6 on X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Sam Luba is a Senior Reporter with the State Press, focusing on longer form news stories and breaking news coverage. He is a Sophomore studying political science and justice studies, and is a competitor with Sun Devil Mock Trial. He was the Editor-in-Chief of his high school news magazine. He is in his 3rd Semester with the State Press, working previously as a Part-Time Political Reporter.
