{"130521":{"#nid":"130521","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Stone Aims to Cool Cities through Design","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHotlanta\u201d has become a popular nickname for the city based on the high temperatures that are synonymous with Atlanta\u2019s summers. But Brian Stone wants people to realize that the heat in the city isn\u2019t just the result of weather patterns.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019ve looked at cities around the world, and they are warming twice as fast as other areas around the globe,\u201d said Stone, an associate professor in the School of City and Regional Planning. \u201cMy research focuses on how we can make cities cooler by changing the physical design elements.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome solutions for keeping cities cool include planting more trees and preserving them, because they provide natural shade. Increasing the reflectivity of buildings by using less black roofing and asphalt and finding ways to reduce the amount of heat emitted through buildings and cars are other ways to accomplish this, Stone added. He recently published a book on the subject titled, \u201cThe City and the Coming Climate: Climate Change in the Places We Live.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, The Whistle had an opportunity to learn more about Stone and his time at Georgia Tech. Here\u2019s what he shared.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat did you want to be when you were a child?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EI can tell you that I didn\u2019t want to be a planner \u2014 what kid does? I went to college knowing that I wanted to teach and earned a bachelor\u2019s in English. I didn\u2019t really understand what a planner was until after I\u2019d earned a master\u2019s in environmental management and realized that I was interested in cities and air quality. So I pursued my PhD in city and regional planning here at Tech. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you end up in your position here?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EAfter I earned my PhD in 2001, I went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to teach until 2005. Then I was offered a position at Tech and have been here ever since.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are a few misconceptions about your field?\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EZoning is actually very little of what we do as planners; we focus more on public policy. Also, people in my field can be unique at an institution like Tech because we are more interested in behavioral than technological solutions. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat have you learned from your students?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI\u2019ve learned that if students aren\u2019t inspired, they\u2019re not going to learn, which is why a lot of my teaching takes place outside of the classroom. So if I\u2019m teaching about air quality, we visit a power plant. We\u2019re fortunate because Atlanta serves as a great lab for students who are studying planning. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat piece of technology could you not live without?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMy solar-powered electric scooter. It looks like a little Vespa, and I have solar panels on my roof at home that collect the energy I need to charge it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhich do you prefer: Facebook, Twitter or a world without all of this social media stuff?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA world without it. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere is your favorite spot in Atlanta?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe old-growth forest around the Frazer Center in Candler Park. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the greatest risk you\u2019ve ever taken, and did it pay off?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt was probably coming to Tech as a graduate student. It was tough coming to a technical school when my background was in the humanities. But I\u2019d say it paid off in the end.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you could have dinner with someone, dead or alive, who would it be?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt would be Edward Abbey. He wrote about environmental issues, and I\u2019d enjoy having a conversation with him. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere is your favorite place to have lunch?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAntico Pizza, and I order the Verdura Pizza. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell us something unique about yourself.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI am a self-proclaimed, highly skilled bocce ball player. I even have my own court in the backyard.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHotlanta\u201d has become a popular nickname for the city based on the high temperatures that are synonymous with Atlanta\u2019s summers.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u201cHotlanta\u201d has become a popular nickname for the city based on the high temperatures that are synonymous with Atlanta\u2019s summers."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2012-05-14 13:58:26","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:13","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"130461":{"id":"130461","type":"image","title":"Brian Stone","body":null,"created":"1449178647","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:27","changed":"1475894736","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:36","alt":"Brian Stone","file":{"fid":"194659","name":"stone.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stone_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stone_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3131696,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/stone_0.jpg?itok=DYoahO-A"}}},"media_ids":["130461"],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1349","name":"Brian Stone"},{"id":"167159","name":"school of city and regional planning"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}