WIN City Labs partner Iona delivers heat-island recommendations to YHA

RYE BROOK, NY (December 20, 2022) – The Westchester Innovation Network’s (WIN) City Labs initiative recently completed a collaboration with the Yonkers Housing Authority, Iona University and Groundwork Hudson Valley to study the awareness of heat islands among residents in the authority’s housing complexes.

Students in Iona’s Introduction to Ideation and Design Thinking class spent five weeks meeting with the authority’s residents to discuss heat island effects in their neighborhoods and other concerns. A heat island is a developed area with little vegetation whose asphalt, concrete or brick surfaces absorb summer heat and make a neighborhood hotter than surrounding areas that possess more grass and trees.

The students’ innovative recommendations included:

• Mobile heat island simulator that would help educate the public about heat trapping neighborhoods.
• Virtual-reality tours of the authority’s future construction projects and Groundwork Hudson Valley’s future heat-island remediation efforts. The virtual reality demonstrations would be designed to build residents’ support and elicit their feedback while the projects are still in the design phase.

“Working on a real-world problem that affects our neighborhoods was a tremendous opportunity for our students,” said Dr. Christoph Winkler, program director of the Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. “By applying the design thinking process to develop solutions to a very complex problem, our students really dove into the stakeholder engagement component of this."

The Iona-Yonkers Housing Authority collaboration was part of City Labs, one of WIN’s three efforts to propel innovation as the underpinning for the future economic growth of Westchester. WIN’s City Labs spotlights a host community and teams that municipality with individuals focused on identifying projects to assist in delivering immediate economic benefit to that community and its residents through innovation.

“As the Yonkers Housing Authority and Groundwork Hudson Valley travel to Washington, Albany, White Plains and even our properties to educate our elected officials and tenants on the impacts of heat island effect on our tenants we have noticed that some people have difficulty visualizing the issue and its impact. This is not unusual because different people learn in different ways. The innovations that the Iona University students presented directly overcome those challenges and help our audiences see and feel the impact of heat island effect and how we can mitigate it. It's very exciting to have the students' fresh perspective address a point of frustration in 5-weeks that we have been wrestling with for a while,” said Wilson Kimball, the authority’s president and CEO.

WIN’s City Labs initiative launched earlier this year in Mount Vernon, where Iona students met with owners of minority- and women-owned businesses. The entrepreneurs explained their struggles finding government requests for proposals, bidding on government contracts and tolerating government contracts’ payment schedules. The project led to the creation of a landing page designed to help minority- and women-owned businesses secure more municipal contracts.

“WIN’s City Labs initiative was designed to help municipalities solve problems. That’s where this project comes into play,” said Dr. Marsha Gordon, the BCW’s CEO, who attended the students’ presentation. “Some of the students’ findings just might make it into the comprehensive plan for the City of Yonkers, so that’s really exciting.”

Photo captions:

Group shot: Students from Iona University’s Introduction to Ideation and Design Thinking class with representatives of the Yonkers Housing Authority and the Business Council of Westchester on December 15, 2022. Photo courtesy of the Business Council of Westchester.

About The Business Council of Westchester

The Business Council of Westchester is the county’s only business membership organization focusing on economic development and advocacy. It is the county’s largest and most prestigious business membership organization representing more than 1,000 members, including multinational corporations, hospitals, universities, biotech pioneers, not-for-profits, entrepreneurs, and companies of all sizes. As the most influential economic development and advocacy organization in Westchester, The Business Council of Westchester’s members enjoy unparalleled access to today’s leading thought leaders, diverse business development opportunities and lawmakers at all levels of government. The BCW Data Exchange provides the latest demographic research to help guide smart business decisions. The LEAP program, a one-of-a-kind initiative, gives members direct access to lobbying efforts at the county, state and national levels on issues that directly affect their businesses. Build, Connect and Win with The Business Council of Westchester. Visit thebcw.org to connect today.