Economic and social development of urban and rural areas continues in parallel with the increase of the human population, especially in developing countries, which leads to sustained expansion of impervious surface areas, particularly paved surfaces. The conversion of pervious surfaces to impervious surfaces significantly modifies local energy balance in urban areas and contributes to urban heat island (UHI) formation, mainly in densely developed cities. This paper represents a literature review on the causes and consequences of the UHI and potential measures that could be adopted to improve the urban microclimate. The primary focus is to discuss and summarise significant findings on the UHI phenomenon and its consequences, such as the impact on human thermal comfort and health, energy consumption, air pollution, and surface water quality deterioration. Regarding the measures to mitigate UHI, particular emphasis is given to the reflective and permeable pavements.

In order to reduce the dependency on conventional materials and negative environmental impacts, one of the main responsibilities of the construction field is to find new eco-friendly resources to replace the traditional materials partially. Natural fibers were known as potential candidates for the reinforcement of structures in civil engineering by virtue of their advantages. Among the different kinds of vegetable fibers, coconut fiber has been exploited in a limited way over the past few years. This paper aims at evaluating the different properties of local coconut fibers (Vietnam). Several laboratory tests provide geometrical, physical, mechanical properties and durability properties that are compared with literature results obtained from similar natural fibers. The local coconut fibers tested demonstrated properties suitable for reinforced mortars. With adequate control of their preparation, they could be reused in the manufacture of mortars in the construction.