IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Urban heat islands can affect communities and businesses by increasing energy costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, impacting water quality and elevating the risks of heat-related illness and mortality. To help Dallas community leaders better understand the impact locally, Vizient, Inc. and KPMG LLP sponsored an event taking place today where Texas Trees Foundation will present the results of their 2017 Dallas Urban Heat Island Study.
The term “heat island” describes urban or developed areas that absorb heat during the day and slowly release this heat during the night. This effect can cause urban areas to be up to 15°F hotter than adjacent rural areas.
The Dallas study is the first comprehensive heat management assessment undertaken in the state of Texas and constitutes one component of a broader effort to enhance livability, health and sustainability in Dallas County. Findings from the study represent very high-resolution air temperatures throughout the city of Dallas and provide a dataset that no other city has developed. The climate model grid enables city leaders and sustainability experts to estimate temperature data from more than 4,000 points across the city and model heat exposure and the potential impact from various heat management strategies.
“The consequences of urban heat islands in cities across the country, and climate change in general, have a significant impact on our member hospitals and the communities they serve,” said Terri Scannell, senior social responsibility director for Vizient and a presenter at the event. “Supporting this type of research, and understanding the mitigation plans that result, are important insights we can share with our members and will also help inform our business strategies going forward.”
Click here for more information about the event.
About Vizient, Inc.
Vizient, Inc., the largest member-driven health care performance improvement company in the country, provides innovative data-driven solutions, expertise and collaborative opportunities that lead to improved patient outcomes and lower costs. Vizient’s diverse membership base includes academic medical centers, pediatric facilities, community hospitals, integrated health delivery networks and non-acute health care providers and represents more than $100 billion in annual purchasing volume. The Vizient brand identity represents the integration of VHA Inc., University HealthSystem Consortium and Novation, which combined in 2015, as well as MedAssets’ Spend and Clinical Resource Management (SCM) segment, including Sg2, which was acquired in 2016. In 2017, Vizient again received a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute. Vizient’s headquarters are in Irving, Texas, with locations in Chicago and other cities across the United States. Please visit www.vizientinc.com as well as our newsroom, blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube pages for more information about the company.
