The Urban Developer
AdvertiseEventsWebinars
Urbanity
Awards
Sign In
Membership
Latest
Menu
Location
Sector
Category
Content
Type
Newsletters
Untitled design (8)
25 DAYS UNTIL OUR UNMISSABLE FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE 29-31 JULY, GOLD COAST
25 DAYS UNTIL OUR FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE 29-31 JULY, GOLD COAST
SECURE YOUR SPOTDETAILS
TheUrbanDeveloper
Follow
About
About Us
Membership
Awards
Events
Webinars
Listings
Resources
Terms & Conditions
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Republishing Guidelines
Editorial Charter
Complaints Handling Policy
Contact
General Enquiries
Advertise
Contribution Enquiry
Project Submission
Membership Enquiry
Newsletter
Stay up to date and with the latest news, projects, deals and features.
Subscribe
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE
9
print
Print
InfrastructureRenee McKeownWed 12 Feb 20

Heat on Developers to Rethink Design

3f5932e3-1691-4524-828a-6b98613c10f2

The heat is on developers to “urgently rethink” planning and the use of materials as sensors across Greater Western Sydney tracked big temperature differences in summer.

On Penrith’s hottest day when temperatures soared to 48.9 degrees a difference of 3.6 degrees was recorded between Tench Reserve on the Nepean river and suburban St Marys.

The results were captured from 120 heat sensors placed by Council and Western Sydney University in an effort to determine the relationship between development and urban heat.

Planning was crucial to avoid locking Western Sydney into inescapably high future urban heat according to Western Sydney University senior research fellow Sebastian Pfautsch.

“The process of developing Western Sydney contributes massively to urban heat. And we know how much growth is planned in this area, particularly with the new Western Sydney Airport and associated Aerotropolis precinct,” Pfautsch said.

“Unless we execute this with considerations for urban heat at the very forefront of our planning, 50-degree-plus summers will unfortunately become Western Sydney’s reality.

“The heat difference already measured on 4 January, between Tench Reserve and St Mary’s, is just a precursor of what lies ahead for Penrith.”

Pfautsch said they collected some 46,000 temperature measurements and the main differences were found between locations with green and blue infrastructure and a high proportion of hard urban surfaces.

“Without trees, summer heat becomes unbearable, in new housing estates where you have small blocks almost completely covered by houses with black roofs, it means there is simply no space to grow a meaningful canopy,” Pfautsch said.

“We therefore need to urgently rethink how we plan, build and live, to make more room for green cover and start using smarter solutions like cool roof technology now in the homes and businesses we build.”

Penrith mayor Ross Fowler said it tangibly reinforced how much sustainability decisions in development count in combating urban heat.

“We know anecdotally there can be vast temperature differences across our region, but until now, we’ve lacked evidence to support and correlate this,” Fowler said.

“Collecting heat data this summer will help scientifically inform decision making for our city and tackle rising urban heat.

“Importantly it also allows council to advocate the business case to industry, the community and government, for doing things differently.”

The full results are expected to be released at Cooling the City Masterclass on 18 February with data made available more broadly in mid-2020.

InfrastructureHotelIndustrialRetailResidentialAustraliado not useArchitecturePlanningPlanningSector
AUTHOR
Renee McKeown
More articles by this author
ADVERTISEMENT
TOP STORIES
Exclusive

Carparking Correlation: How Parking Fees Provide Office Sector Health Check

Taryn Paris
6 Min
Molti chief Ben Teague out front of 32 Mercer Road Aramadale (rendering)
Exclusive

Buy to the Sound of Cannons: Molti’s Counter-Cyclical Move to Melbourne

Leon Della Bosca
5 Min
Exclusive

Tapping the Bunnings ‘Halo Effect’

Taryn Paris
5 Min
Exclusive

‘Construction Not a Scale Game’: Hutchinson

Phil Bartsch
9 Min
Nation's build-to-rent project Charlie Parker in Sydney's Parramatta where more projects are being located and built outside the CBD.
Exclusive

Foreign Capital Still Dominates BtR but Things are Changing

Marisa Wikramanayake
7 Min
View All >
the four concept towers approved for sydney metro's parramatta precinct
Development

Rush of Approvals Sends Parramatta Skywards

Renee McKeown
Exclusive

Carparking Correlation: How Parking Fees Provide Office Sector Health Check

Taryn Paris
The construction site which will one day become Newcastle Tallest Tower by Urban Property Group
Residential

Urban Property Group Reveals Newcastle Tallest Tower Plan

Renee McKeown
The proposal that would best Thirdi’s Dairy Farmers north tower has moved ahead after being declared state significant …
LATEST
the four concept towers approved for sydney metro's parramatta precinct
Development

Rush of Approvals Sends Parramatta Skywards

Renee McKeown
2 Min
Exclusive

Carparking Correlation: How Parking Fees Provide Office Sector Health Check

Taryn Paris
6 Min
The construction site which will one day become Newcastle Tallest Tower by Urban Property Group
Residential

Urban Property Group Reveals Newcastle Tallest Tower Plan

Renee McKeown
3 Min
ESR building ESR completes delisting
Industrial

ESR Reveals New Team After Hong Kong Delisting

Leon Della Bosca
3 Min
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/heat-on-developers-to-rethink-design