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City and UT expand 'UT City CoLab' to bring local climate science into planning
Summary
City staff and University of Texas researchers described the UT City CoLab, a multi‑year, city‑funded collaboration that produces downscaled climate data and pilot projects (digital twins, cool‑pavement tests, tree‑health mapping) intended to inform city decisions and improve grant competitiveness.
City staff and University of Texas researchers updated the committee on Jan. 28 about the UT City CoLab, a city‑funded partnership that connects academic research to city planning and operations.
Zach Ballmer, director of Austin Climate Action and Resilience, said the collab grew out of early conversations about local projections and now supports decision‑oriented research across departments. ‘‘This collaboration has been going on for about 3 years, fully funded from the city of Austin in collaboration with researchers at UT,’’ Ballmer said.
Dr. Dave Niyogi (UT) and climate resilience manager Mark Coudair presented downscaled projections showing hotter summers, longer hot/dry and prolonged cold spells, more frequent gusty wind events and increased variability in rainfall patterns. Niyogi emphasized the value of local, high‑resolution products: ‘‘While the global models are useful, they are never usable because that is a very, gross picture. So we need to bring it down to local scale.’’ He added that some patterns may become locked in for extended periods, increasing the need to plan for both heat and cold extremes.
Staff described governance and funding: the collab uses an interlocal agreement with UT and a current city budget allocation of $300,000 to seed projects, with liaisons and faculty contacts matching projects to departmental decision needs. Project highlights include an Austin Digital Twin testbed, tree‑health monitoring using satellite data and AI, carbon accounting of demolition permits, community sensor networks to document indoor and neighborhood heat, and a cool‑pavement pilot in Southeast Austin.
On cool pavement, Ballmer and Dr. Niyogi said a pilot compared treated roads with untreated nearby streets and found modest daytime reflectivity but larger overnight cooling; a final technical report is being finalized with public works and will be shared when complete. Staff also noted the collab’s success in competing for external grants from NASA, NOAA and NSF, and said the program helps build a pipeline of students who go on to work directly with city departments.
Council members asked how projects are selected and coordinated with departments and the city manager’s office; staff pointed to semiannual workshops, an advisory committee and a director‑level Climate and Environment Leadership Team used to prioritize projects connected to concrete city decisions. Ballmer said the program expects to support roughly 10 projects per year and grows as external funding is secured.
What’s next: staff said they will provide the collab’s final cool‑pavement report when it is complete and will continue semiannual workshops where departments and council staff can propose questions or projects.
