Urban island heat effect: Rising temperatures in Aussie cities could create death traps

Did you know that our cities are 5C hotter compared to surrounding areas because of the ‘Urban Heat Island'?

Megan Palin shared an article on News.com.au today about the Urban Heat Island and the effect that is having on our cities. The article quotes some alarming statistics, including that "the annual air temperature of a city with one million people can be 1—3C warmer than its surroundings". However the article isn't all doom and gloom - it also details several Australian initiatives that are helping to tackle this significant problem, including our own Cool Streets^© initiative. We're very proud of our Cool Streets^© project, and believe that we all need to play a part in tackling climate change. You can find more information on the Cool Streets^© initative over at www.coolstreets.com.au .

COOL STREETS© IS FEATURED ON ABC RADIO SYDNEY!

Yesterday, ABC Radio Sydney published an article "Sydney squeeze: Lower your electricity bills and reduce the heat island effect by planting more trees" as part of their week-long investigation into Sydney's future. The coverage includes everything from the cost of living to the impact on the environment, and our own Dr Libby Gallagher was contacted to provide insight as to how trees can help cool our cities, reduce CO2 emissions and reduce resident's power bills. 

Amanda Hoh wrote: 

Last year Blacktown City Council received State Government funding to trial a pilot program that saw more trees planted in Boonderoo Avenue in Glenwood.

The council partnered with the Cool Streets^© initiative that was developed by landscape architect Dr Libby Gallagher, whose PhD found changes to street design could reduce CO2 emissions, cool neighbourhoods and reduce power bills for residents.

"I found that you could basically achieve much higher levels of reduced energy consumption by planting effective trees on their street," Dr Gallagher said.

"As the trees grow, the projected outcome for these streets was that when [the trees] were at maturity they could achieve really significant benefits ... provide shading, shaving electricity bills by up to $400 per annum."

To read the full article, click here: 
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-23/tackling-heat-with-trees-one-street-at-a-time/8380306
 

GLENWOOD GOES GREEN

Great to see some press coverage for the Cool Streets Blacktown Pilot Project! 

Last week, the Rouse Hill Courier published an article entitled 'Glenwood goes green' on their website. Meg Francis wrote:

A Glenwood street has brought down the temperature but turned up the heat on tackling climate change.

The Cool Streets project, hosted by Boonderoo Avenue, was recognised in the 2016 Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Awards when it won the climate change action award.

Gallagher Studio director Libby Gallagher, who led the project, said the organisation were blown away by the success of the Australia-first initiative. “The pilot project grew from my PHD at the University of Sydney into the potential of streets and street trees to tackle urban heat and mitigate climate change,” Dr Gallagher said.

To check out the full article, click here.

COOL STREETS PILOT PROJECT WINS CLIMATE ACTION AWARD

We are very pleased to share that Cool Streets won the Climate Action Award at the Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Awards.  

The Cool Streets Pilot Project is a community – led implementation project supported by Blacktown Council and developed by Gallagher Studio in collaboration with CRED Consulting. This pilot is part of a wider initiative called Cool Streets, developed by the project team to empower communities to cool their neighbourhoods through interactive participatory decision making.

For more information about the awards, click here.