Table 1.

Summarizing study parishes and communities

Parish	Province	Populationa	Community Types	Climateb	Access to Major City	Economic Activity
Andean
Rural
La Merced	Pichincha	8400	Multiple low-density neighborhoods close to main road. Many dispersed households up to 30 minutes from community center.	Temperate and dry. Occasional showers and thunderstorms. 7°C - 23°C. Heating demand for some months.	Increasingly integrated with suburban Quito in last 10 years.	Most people are part of Quito´s workforce but may maintain agricultural production for household consumption or additional income.
Cangahua	Pichincha	16200	Small low-density central neighborhood. Many dispersed households up to 30 minutes away from community center.	Cold, harsh, highlands climate. 5°C - 15°C. Heating demand for many months.	Access to major highway via paved road; 20 minutes from Cayambe city (100,000 people).	Agriculture (mostly onions)
Ayora	Pichincha	11250	Several low- density neighborhoods close to major highway. Many dispersed households up to 30 minutes away from community center.	Cold nights, cool mornings and afternoons. 7°C - 19°C. Heating demand for some months.	Highly dispersed community, some areas are integrated with Cayambe city and located on a major highway.	Agriculture and animal husbandry. Extensive production of roses and other flowers on industrial-scale farms.
Licto	Chimborazo	7800	Few low-density neighborhoods around central market. Some distant households.	Cold nights, cool mornings and afternoons. 7°C - 20°C. Heating demand for some months.	Low-frequency but consistent bus access to market/urban centers	Sheep and pig farming. Agriculture (potatoes, corn, other grains)
Peri-Urban
Machachi	Pichincha	27600	Densely populated parish center with very few low-density neighborhoods in surrounding highlands.	Temperate in town center, highland neighborhoods have cold nights, cool days. 6°C - 19°C Heating demand for some months.	Has historically been a major population center itself. Located on a major highway, 20 minutes from suburban Quito	Commerce, agriculture and cattle farming. Some people are part of Quito´s workforce.
Calpi	Chimborazo	6500	Multiple low-density neighborhoods.	Cold, harsh, highlands climate 4°C - 15°C. Heating demand for many months.	Recent transition from rural to Peri-Urban through spread of Riobamba (150,000 people). Located on a major highway that links the Andes to the coast.	Tourism. Agriculture (potatoes, corn, apples, peaches, other fruits)
Coastal
Rural
Alhajuela	Manabí	3800	Homes grouped along roads. Some remote households without vehicle access.	Hot throughout the year. Dry most of the year, except for short rainy season. 19°C - 30°C. No heating demand.	Access to major highway via paved roads. 30 mins from Portoviejo (220,000 people).	Agriculture (cacao, citrus, plantain other fruit).
San Gregorio	Esmeraldas	5900	20-100 homes grouped around public area. Some remote households without vehicle access.	Hot throughout the year. Dry and rainy seasons. 22°C - 29°C. No heating demand.	Little access to major cities (10-20 km from highway via dirt roads). Inaccessible during heavy rains.	Agriculture focused on cacao, some employment from agro-business (shrimp farms + oil palm)
Peri-Urban
Jama	Manabí	23000	Multiple low-density neighborhoods around central market.	Hot and dry throughout the year. 21°C - 29°C. No heating demand.	Locally important population center due to far distance to nearest major city (50 km).	Small banana farms. Some shrimp farms.
San Mateo	Esmeraldas	5700	Densely populated parish center with very few low-density neighborhoods in neighboring valleys	Hot throughout the year. Dry and rainy seasons. 22°C - 29°C. No heating demand.	20 minutes via paved road from Esmeraldas, (170,000 people) but recent highway development has reduced traffic through San Mateo.	Most people are part of Esmeraldas’ workforce. Limited agriculture.

^aData come from the Ecuadorian National Institute of Statistics and Census 2018 population estimates (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos [National Institute of Statistics and Census] et al., 2019). For parishes with multiple small communities, population estimates may over- or under-estimate the size of study communities. These discrepancies are noted in the column “Community Types.”

^bTemperature indicates range of average daily temperatures throughout the year from Climate-Data.org (Climate-Data, 2019).