Relief From The Heat
Developing a standard for shading playgrounds
By Greg Jackson
Photos: Tucson Parks and Recreation
In Tucson, Ariz., a desert city where temperatures in the summer are consistently in the triple digits, shade is not a luxury but a necessity. The city’s parks and recreation department has consistently heard from the community that residents need and desire shade over everything, but especially over playgrounds. Putting shade structures over playgrounds has been a slow process; it became a higher priority as a 2018 $225-million park bond package for capital improvements across the parks system, via General Obligation bonds, was being developed.
The department has 148 playgrounds throughout the system, but only 44 had shade structures over the play equipment prior to the park bond. Most of the existing shade structures were funded by the Tucson Parks Foundation, the department’s nonprofit partner. The bond package approved by voters in November 2018 included adding shade to 17 existing playgrounds, building 58 new playgrounds with shade, and replacing two shade structures over existing playgrounds. When the bond work is complete, the department will have added shade over 77 playgrounds.
“Shade is so important in a desert climate like Tucson … where the sun shines all year long,” says Mayor Regina Romero. “This policy recognizes us as a leader in the field, being proactive in protecting our community from the danger of the sun’s heat and UV rays, as well as allowing for more hours of play on protected play equipment.”
There are three key benefits of shading playgrounds:
1. Reducing people’s exposure to cancer-causing ultraviolet rays
2. Reducing the temperatures on playground equipment surfaces
3. Reducing playground equipment to sun exposure, extending the life expectancy of the equipment.
As the department began accepting bids for playground shade projects in 2019, it became apparent that vendors were proposing different-size shade structures, as well as different pricing. Staff members began researching if a standard existed for constructing shade structures over playgrounds. After searching the internet, reaching out to other parks and recreation agencies across the county, and speaking with shade contractors, it was determined no such standard existed. The department decided to develop a playground shade standard for the city.
Apples To Apples
Verifying the hottest months of the year, hottest times of the day, and times when ultraviolet rays are the strongest was the first step in the process. According to rss.weather.com, the average high temperature in Tucson is 90 degrees or hotter in May (90.4), June (100.2), July (99.6), August (97.4), and September (94.0), with three of those months nearing 100 degrees. Cuyler Diggs, a local meteorologist with KGUN9 news, noted the hottest times of the day are between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and ultraviolet rays are most intense between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Finally, the department considered when playgrounds are used the most. The department conducted an informal survey of people with children, and found non-working parents preferred using the playgrounds during the morning hours when it is cooler, and working parents preferred after-work hours during the weekdays.
Next, the department drafted a couple of shade-standard concepts to discuss with contractors in seeing the impact on the size of the structure necessary to meet the various options and the financial impact on projects.
Option 1: Based upon shading 100 percent of the playground footprint in June, July, and August from:
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Option 2: Based on shading the playground from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 15, the middle of the hottest three months, for a percentage of the playground footprint:
100 percent of the footprint (no sun on the playground footprint between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.)
90 percent of the footprint
80 percent of the footprint
70 percent of the footprint.
Key Findings
Tucson Parks and Recreation asked all four of its job-order contractors for shade structures if the companies wanted to participate in developing and evaluating the standard, and two of the four agreed. Staff members held three virtual meetings to obtain input on the two draft options. Both companies agreed to evaluate the impact of the shade-structure size necessary to meet the draft playground shade standards.
During this process, other notable ideas came to the forefront:
Southern and western exposures typically experience the most heat, so slides should have a northern and eastern orientation whenever possible.
Trees can also assist in shading the playground, but should not be planted so close that falling branches or leaves become a safety or maintenance concern.
Trees planted on the south and west sides of a playground can help mitigate some of the heat during the hottest times of the year and day, and create a great location for benches in the shade.
Other key elements incorporated into the playground shade standard are the following:
The shade structure is intended to cover the main 2- to 5-year-old and 5- to 12-year-old playground structure(s) only.
The shade structure is not intended to cover swings and other stand-alone elements.
The shade-structure design should minimize sun exposure on slide surfaces.
The shade structure should be at least 8 feet clear above the highest “mountable” surface of the play structure. “Mountable” includes platforms, safety rails, and roofs. For this reason, if possible, existing play structures with plastic roofs over the platforms should have roofs removed, and poles capped when a shade structure is constructed over them.
Shade structures should maintain 12 feet minimum height above any grade.
After evaluating the various draft options, the department selected a playground shade-structure standard that provides shade over 80 percent of the playground footprint on July 15, from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. During that timeframe, no more than 20 percent of the playground footprint is to be exposed to sun. For example, a playground with a 1,000-square-foot footprint cannot have more than 200 square feet of sun exposure between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on July 15. This approach will help ensure that the department takes an equitable and financially reasonable approach to pricing and selecting bids for playground shade structures.
This shade-structure standard can be modified to meet the needs of individual communities throughout the country because many organizations are likely facing the same issue and can benefit from having a consistent policy.
For more information on what Tucson Parks and Recreation is doing to address the need for shade in its community, reach out to Deputy Director Greg Jackson at Greg.Jackson@tucsonaz.gov.