NSF Three City Heat and Electrical Failure Adaptation Study 

Georgia Institute of Technology, Arizona State University, University of Michigan

The Three City Heat and Electrical Failure Adaptation Study (3HEAT) is a National Science Foundation project focused on the human health risks of heat exposure during periods of electrical grid inoperability.  With the frequency of hazardous weather events increasing across the United States, combined with a rapid increase in the number of major electrical grid failure events, the likelihood of concurrent extreme weather and blackout events – characterized by our work as a compound climate and infrastructure event – is rising.  In the last few years alone, major compound climate and infrastructure events have unfolded in numerous states as wildfires, hurricanes, intense winter storms, and heat waves have triggered widespread blackout events, leaving millions of US residents without access to electricity for cooling or heating, as well as access to drinking water, during periods of extreme temperature exposure. Here you will find a series of datasets associated with the 3HEAT project, study publications, and media coverage of our results.

3HEAT Published Studies to Date

A Methodological Assessment of Extreme Heat Mortality Modeling and Heat Vulnerability Mapping in Dallas, Texas

Assessing the magnitude and uncertainties of the burden of selected diseases attributable to extreme heat and extreme precipitation under a climate change scenario in Michigan for the period 2041 – 2070

Modeling and comparing central and room air conditioning ownership and cold season in home thermal comfort using the American Housing Survey

Climate change and temperature extremes: a review of heat- and cold-related morbidity and mortality concerns of municipalities

Efficacy of cool roofs at reducing pedestrian-level air temperature during projected 21st century heatwaves in Atlanta, Detroit, and Phoenix (USA)

Heat-Related Illness Is Associated with Lack of Air Conditioning and Pre-Existing Health Problems in Detroit, Michigan, USA: A Community-Based Participatory Co-Analysis of Survey Data

How race, ethnicity, and income moderate the relationship between urban vegetation and physical activity in the United States

Impacts of landscape changes on local and regional climate: a systematic review

Longer-Term Outdoor Temperatures and Health Effects: A Review

Mapping Human Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: A Critical Assessment of Heat Vulnerability Indices Created Using Principal Components Analysis

MI-Environment: Geospatial patterns and inequality of relative heat stress vulnerability in Michigan

Micrometeorological determinants of pedestrian thermal exposure during record-breaking heat in Tempe, Arizona: Introducing the MaRTy observational platform

Modeling and comparing central and room air conditioning ownership and cold-season in-home thermal comfort using the American Housing Survey

Passive survivability of buildings under changing urban climates across eight US cities

Shifting from “Community-Placed” to “Community-Based” Research to Advance Health Equity: A Case Study of the Heatwaves, Housing, and Health: Increasing Climate Resiliency in Detroit (HHH) Partnership

Social and behavioral determinants of indoor temperatures in air-conditioned homes

The motley drivers of heat and cold exposure in 21st century US cities

The Observed Effects of Utility-Scale Photovoltaics on Near-Surface Air Temperature and Energy Balance

Thermal impacts of built and vegetated environments on local microclimates in an Urban University campus

Time series analysis of total and direct associations between high temperatures and preterm births in Detroit, Michigan