Less maintenance and less heating: Offenbach tests different paving stones

Temperatures are rising and the city of Offenbach is responding to the changing climate with various measures. As ground coverings have an enormous influence on the urban climate in addition to planting, the city is currently using six areas, each measuring twelve square meters, at the intersection of Berliner Straße 60 and Marktplatz to test different ground coverings. All of them are resilient, but surfaces and brightness vary. For example, lighter colors and smooth surfaces reflect more sunlight, while darker, rougher surfaces absorb more sunlight and therefore heat up more quickly.

The location in front of the city police station was chosen with care, explains Paul-Gerhard Weiß, head of the planning and construction department, as this area is more heavily frequented by vehicles and other parts of the market square. In addition to the temperature behavior, special attention was paid to the self-cleaning properties of the surfaces.

The area was implemented by the Office for Planning and Building, together with the Offenbach Municipal Works Department, which now measures the surface temperature of the various test areas at regular intervals. After the relatively few hot days so far, striking temperature differences of more than four degrees Celsius can already be observed.

It is also almost ten degrees cooler in the area of the newly built concrete pavement at 38 °C compared to the asphalt surface (47 °C). "The surface temperature of the paved areas from the market square renovation is in the low temperature range of the test areas. In the crown area of the trees, it is almost 15 degrees cooler, which once again illustrates the relevance of trees in the city," Weiß continues: "As a result, we need a good interplay of urban greenery and the choice of materials and colors for sealed surfaces in order to be better able to cope with future summers. We also want to gain insights into the self-cleaning behavior of the surfaces in different weather conditions". If you would like to find out more about the test surfaces on site, you will find boards with detailed information on the type of surface or sealing on the grating of the emergency exit of the Stadthaus.