Access to Cooling to Protect Health During Hot Weather

New information about how people access cooling could be used to support decisions about how best to characterize vulnerability to heat in the maps, and also help decision-makers to use the maps more effectively The following report summarizes new data collected about access to cooling in Toronto during the 2010 heat season, outlines existing data related to air conditioning in Toronto, and explor. [...] At the same time, the cost of rent increased in private-sector high-rises, with the average annual cost of a two-bedroom apartment in the City of Toronto increasing by $3,709 between 1981 and 2006, and rent for a three-bed unit going up by an average of $4,697. [...] An initial success was that the property manager supported the idea of a volunteer-run cooling room in one of the common rooms in the building and agreed to provide essential equipment and amenities provided that norms for supervision and conduct were established and enforced. [...] By the end of the summer, the collaborative efforts of TPH, TR and volunteers from the apartment towers, convinced the property manager to purchase and install two air-conditioners in the room. [...] Challenges associated with access and use of the cool room included insufficient time and resources to notify residents of the availability of the cool room and promote its use, apparent language barriers and poor communications systems within the buildings, and limited visibility of the room, as it was not along a regular route into and out of the building.