Hot Limit

Pilllar Category

Social Good

Inspiration

We built Hot Limit to make environmental inequities across Los Angeles County more visible. By providing all residents with accessible information about the unequal burdens that socioeconomically vulnerable communities face, we aim to raise awareness and promote greater environmental equity. We also felt the need to create this project because of the recent heat wave that has been affecting our community as well as the students on our campus.

What it does

Hot Limit features four different pages that are available through the website’s homepage. The first page is the Resources page that has information on the locations of various Cooling Centers and Libraries available to the public, as well as tips on how to stay cool. The Heat Map explores environmental inequity across Los Angeles and lists its cooling centers; it displays their addresses and listed hours. And finally, the Tree Request page allows the user to identify a location in LA County where they would like to plant a tree. The request forms are submitted via the website and can be compiled and sent to local government offices that can use this data to work alongside tree-planting organizations to help plant trees across these communities to create shade for the future.

How we built it

We built this website using HTML Sources: HTML, Supabase, JavaScript, CSS, Excel Spreadsheets, Open Meteo, Leaflet.js, OpenStreetMap, Browser Geolocation API, Google Maps, CalEnviroScreen 4.0, GeoJSON + JSON, VS Code Dataset Resources: California OEHHA, CalEnviroScreen 4.0: https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/report/calenviroscreen-40 (Historical environmental burden) LA County cooling center locator: https://ready.lacounty.gov/heat/ Exact cooling-center point service used: https://lacounty.gov/2026/07/08/extended-heat-advisory-high-temperatures-forecast-for-parts-of-los-angeles-county/ Interactive map tools for zooming, clickable areas, markers, and popups: https://leafletjs.com/examples/quick-start/?utm_source The location data behind Open-Meteo’s place search: https://www.geonames.org/?utm_source= Find the coordinates when someone searches a city or neighborhood: https://open-meteo.com/ LA County Resources: https://data.lacounty.gov/

Challenges we ran into

Some challenges we ran into were figuring out the map integrations used for the Heat Map, Tree Requests, and the Resources page. This was challenging because some cities or neighborhoods were missing information; their data were unreported, so I had to mark it as unavailable rather than enter 0. As well as figuring out how to integrate the map and how to place the search API. Connecting geographic coordinates to the correct census tract. In addition, it was difficult to incorporate the set user interface design, as the formatting and design elements needed to remain consistent across the different pages. Because each of the members of the group works on separate elements of the project meant that it was a bit difficult to ensure that the correct formatting and designs were used to keep the project cohesive. Another challenge came with the configuration of the Heat Map, as large data sets were required to be processed and made more accessible and readable.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

For some of us, it was our first time using HTML and being able to get a working web page that included all of the elements that we initially planned for the project. In addition, our main goal and drive behind this project was to build something that can serve members of our community in a positive way, and we feel proud of our final project as it takes a step towards that goal.

What we learned

How to extract environmental data from Excel and make it easier to understand through an interactive map. We learned how to use Leaflet, HTML, and CSS. We also learned from teammates with different majors about their ideas and their perspective on data.

What's next for Hot Limit

The next milestone that we aim to reach with Hot Limit is to expand its maps and services to other counties across Southern California, and eventually the entire state. In addition, we would reach out to local government offices as well as tree-planting organizations based in Los Angeles County, such as City Plants or TreePeople, to help make use of the compiled data we will have collected with the Tree Request form.