“Beat the Heat” is a mural located at Fernangeles Elementary School, created by Kristy Sandoval in collaboration with youth muralist Nicole Martinez and YUTEP members. This mural aims to bring awareness to climate change and the impacts of heat in the valley. It uses a solar reflective coating that reduces surface temperatures up to 30%.
The research of Urban Planning Assistant Professor V. Kelley Turner looks into the effectiveness of this coating as a climate change intervention to combat the “urban heat island effect.” Using a thermal camera, Turner took the temperature of the building and measured the heat signatures to demonstrate the effect of the cooling paint. Yellow being hot and purple being cool.
