Turn Down the Heat resources

This page compiles a list of current projects and resources from our Turn Down the Heat partners and stakeholders.

Projects


202020 Vision	5 Million Trees	Beat the Heat
The 202020 Vision is one big collaboration to make our urban areas 20% greener by 2020	5MT is part of the NSW Government’s commitment to creating a greener city to improve Sydney’s health, climate, economy and environment.	We provide you with information on how hot weather influences your health, how you can prepare for and stay healthy in the heat, how you can recognise and treat heat-related illness, and how you can care for people who are at risk of heat-related illness.



Benchmarking heat in Parramatta	Benchmarking heat in Cumberland	Benchmarking heat in Campbelltown
The OATH (Outdoor Ambient Temperature Hierarchies of Parramatta) environmental monitoring project is a collaboration between Western Sydney University (WSU) and the City of Parramatta Council.	During the summer of 2018/19, more than 1.4 million individual measurements of air temperature were recorded at 97 locations in and around the Cumberland LGA.	During the summer of 2018/19, more than 1.46 million individual air temperature measurements were recorded at 102 locations in and around the LGA.



Citizen Science: Urban Microclimate Project	Clean Air and Urban Landscape Hub	Climate Adaptive People Shelter
In a collaboration between RMIT and the University of New South Wales, the Citizen Science Project will mobilise a league of enthusiastic citizen scientists to assist Australia’s leading Universities and scientific organisations with their research. The results from this study will provide data required for citizens to understand, mitigate and adapt to extreme heat. Organisation: RMIT and University of New South Wales	The CAUL Hub is one of six research hubs supported by the National Environmental Science Program, which aims to assist decision-makers to understand, manage and conserve Australia’s environment by funding world-class biodiversity and climate science. The programme focuses on collaborative, practical and applied research that informs on-ground action.	The CAPS project aimed to reimagine Sydney’s bus shelters as Climate Adapted People Shelters through an open innovation design competition. Organisation: University of Technology



Cool Parramatta	Cool Streets^©	Cool Suburbs
Community engagement program which provides community with the tools they need to keep cool in summer.	Blacktown City Council’s Cool Streets^© urban heat project aimed to mitigate the effect of rising urban heat in Western Sydney by increasing the number of street trees. Community events in treeless streets engaged with residents, promoted the benefits of street trees and enabled resident participation. Street tree designs that maximise temperature reductions and lower residential energy consumption were developed, and an on-ground trial saw a whole street planted with trees that will lower surface temperatures, reduce home energy usage, sequester carbon and potentially increase property prices.	Cool Suburbs will deliver a tool underpinned by peer-reviewed science that gives a cool rating for a place (building, street, precinct or suburb). The process will use science and engagement to identify the most effective policy, investment, product, programmatic and advocacy interventions to contribute to cooling a place. The Cool Suburb accreditation will be available for marketing purposes, giving developments an edge by being a better place to live.



Cooling the City - Penrith	Microclimate and UHI Mitigation Decision Support Tool	Urban Forest Strategy
This Strategy aims to consolidate existing work by Council to cool the City. Tree planting and landscaping is one of the most successful approaches being taken across the world . The evidence gathered to support the development of this Strategy will help Council to pinpoint areas where existing Council programs and funding should be directed to achieve multiple outcomes, including targeted cooling. This Strategy draws upon existing works programs and adopted strategies as well as recommendations from expert consultants’ reports to make suggestions for various cooling activities.	This project aims to develop a robust and tangible microclimate and urban heat island mitigation decision-support tool that bridges the gap between research on urban microclimates and its practical application. Organisation: CRC for Low Carbon Living	The City of Melbourne’s Urban Forest Strategy seeks to manage this change and protect against future vulnerability by providing a robust strategic framework for the evolution and longevity of Melbourne's urban forest. Organisation: City of Melbourne

If you are aware of any further projects not listed on this page please get in touch with the WSROC Office on 02 96714333 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Other resources:

Reports and research

Title	Organisation		Description
Turn Down the Heat Research Consortium		Western Sydney University		Collated works by Western Sydney University researchers and others exploring the impact of, and ways to mitigate, rising heat in Western Sydney.
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A Guide to Urban Cooling Strategies		Urban Green Cover in NSW		This document provides practical guidance for built environment professionals and regulatory agencies seeking to optimise development projects to moderate urban microclimates and mitigate urban heat island effects in major urban centres across a range of climates in Australia.
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Adapting to Urban Heat: A toolkit for local governments		Georgetown Climate Centre		Tool kit for local government
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Basics of City Cooling Micro-credential		Western Sydney University		This 25-hour course, co-presented by Western Sydney University and WSROC, will enable you to communicate comfortably as to why urban cooling must become a fundamental aspect of how we build new and retrofit existing elements of the urban fabric.
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Benchmarking heat across Campbelltown, New South Wales		Western Sydney University and Campbelltown City Council		This report outlines the results of an urban microclimate study conducted across the Campbelltown LGA during the summer of 2018/19. More than 1.46 million individual air temperature measurements were recorded via sensors at 102 locations.
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Benchmarking heat across Cumberland Council, New South Wales		Western Sydney University and Cumberland Council		This report outlines results of an urban microclimate study conducted across the Cumberland LGA during the summer of 2018/19. More than 1.4 million individual air temperature measurements were recorded via sensors at 97 locations.
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Benchmarking heat in Parramatta, Sydney's Central River City		Western Sydney University and City of Parramatta Council		This report outlines results of an urban microclimate study conducted across City of Parramatta during the summer of 2018/19. Data analyses revealed that (1) communities of the City of Parramatta are exposed to more extreme heat (>40°C) than previously known, (2) southern and south-western suburbs experience higher air temperatures compared to north-eastern suburbs and (3) large differences in cooling capacity exist among urban tree species.
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Benchmarking Heat studies: Parramatta Campbelltown Penrith		Western Sydney University		Air temperature in complex urban terrain can vary. While roads and buildings can lead to higher temperatures in urban landscapes, trees and other green urban infrastructure can provide cooling. These studies identify microclimatic variation within LGAs. This assists councils in understanding variation and mapping vulnerability and direct mitigation and adaptation investment.
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Building Resilience to Natural Disasters in our States and Territories		Deloitte Access Economics		This report assesses the resilience of our states and territories to natural disasters. It examines the distinct circumstances that face the states and territories, the role of each state and territory government and how resilience can be collectively built by more effective collaboration between government, business and community groups.
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Built for Comfort		Camden City Council		Camden Council have released a ‘Built for Comfort’ brochure. The aim is to inform those building a new home or retrofitting an existing home in Camden’s climate of smart and sustainable measures. This guide includes useful tips and information to ensure homes are sustainably built for the future.
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CBD Development Control Plan		City of Parramatta Council		Parramatta introduced urban cooling controls for their CBD DCP (see section 6.8.5). They are particularly strong on reflectivity and heat rejection to ensure comfort for pedestrians.
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Climate Resilient People Shelter		Penrith City Council & University of Technology Sydney		The CAPS project aimed to reimagine Sydney’s bus shelters as Climate Adapted People Shelters through an open innovation design competition. The CAPS project addressed the complex challenges of public exposure to urban heat and the need for smarter public transport infrastructure to improve the liveability of cities.
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Climate Risk? Climate Ready .pdf		Western Sydney University		Summers are getting longer and hotter. We all need to prepare ourselves, our homes and our neighbourhoods for more hot and very hot days (days over 35 degrees).
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Climate change impacts on urban heat Climate change impacts on heatwave		NSW Government — AdaptNSW		The AdaptNSW website was developed by the NSW Government to inform and empower communities, businesses, households and government to adapt to climate change. It provides relevant, localised information and case studies.
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Cool Centres Strategy		Blacktown City Council		Blacktown Council have arranged cool centres where you can find refuge from the heat. These are especially for people who are unable to keep cool at home and who might not be able to easily get to a shopping centre, library, or swimming pool.
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Cooling The City		Penrith City Council		This Strategy relies on a strong research base to understand urban heat within the Penrith Local Government Area (LGA) and to develop a broad range of actions that will work together towards cooling the City.
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Cooling The Commons		Western Sydney University		This pilot study provides initial insights into how residents living in Western Sydney keep cool during the hottest parts of the year and how they would like to see their living environments, at home and out and about, modified to improve well-being in a climate-changing world. The research responds to the lack of qualitative information about day-to-day living practices in outer suburban Sydney; the constraints people experience when trying to keep cool; and, people’s aspirations for more comfortable living environments.
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Cool Schools		Western Sydney University		Rising temperatures and the increasing frequency of extreme heat events across NSW, and Australia pose significant health and safety risks to children, yet little is known about thermal comfort of students and teachers in Australian schools. The Western Sydney University Cool Schools Initiative (CSI) was launched in 2018 to develop interdisciplinary research programs for heat-resilient primary and secondary school environments and design of heat-resilient curriculum.
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Cool Streets		Blacktown City Council		Blacktown City Council’s Cool Streets^© project aimed to mitigate the effect of rising urban heat in Western Sydney by increasing the number of street trees. Cool Streets^© combines scientific research and public engagement, working with local communities to implement effective street tree plantings that provide shade in heat-affected urban areas and reduce CO2 emissions.
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Cool Suburbs		WSROC		Cool Suburbs is a rating and assessment tool for building heat resilience in urban planning and development. From precinct master plans to lot-scale design considerations, the Cool Suburbs Tool can be used to inform decision-making across the entire development process for both government and industry.
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Cooling Western Sydney		Sydney Water and UNSW		A strategic study on the role of water in mitigating urban heat in Western Sydney. This study has challenged conventional thinking around mitigating urban heat, including the way we look at the built environment, energy demand, public health, and ‘greening’ cities.
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Dangerous Degrees		The Climate Institute		The Dangerous Degrees booklet explains why a rise of only a few degrees in the average global temperature risks our prosperity, security, and health. It explains why it is so important to reverse the rise in emissions within the decade and why it is still within our means to do so.
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Defining heatwaves: heatwave defined as a heat impact event servicing all community and business sectors in Australia		Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO		This report proposes a new objective definition for heatwaves and heatwave severity that may be applied to any location in Australia, or for that matter the world. Using this definition, it is now possible to compare severe and extreme heat events across time and space.
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Future-proofing residential development		WSROC		This study reviewed the thermal performance of BASIX-compliant Western Sydney homes under future climate scenarios with the aim of understanding whether today's housing standards are future-ready. Further modelling was conducted to test how design modifications could allow these homes to perform better in future climates.
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Greening Our City		NSW Government		The NSW Government is aiming to lessen the impact of the urban heat island effect and increase the city’s resilience to a changing climate. We are focused on tree planting, green infrastructure, and policy change to ensure that the planning system supports trees and green cover well into the future.
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Greater Sydney Region Plan (2018)		Greater Cities Commission		The Greater Sydney Region Plan was the first NSW Government strategic planning document to outline the challenge of urban heat.
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Heat and Health		The Lancet Series		Hot weather and heat extremes harm human health, with priority poverty, ageing, and chronic illnesses as aggravating factors. Check out this Series from the Lancet journals.
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Heat and Social Housing		Link Wentworth		As part of the Western Sydney Heat and Social Housing project, community housing organisations Hume and partners have produced a range of education resources in collaboration with social housing tenants.
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Heat Risk Scale		University of Sydney		University of Sydney researchers are developing a heat stress scale similar to a UV index, with an accompanying app to help the public handle the heat and avoid the risk of health problems from heatwaves.
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Heat Smart Resilience Framework		WSROC		Developed through extensive consultation with over 500 stakeholders, the Heat Smart Resilience Framework outlines 25 recommendations for improving heatwave management with a focus on building systems that support community resilience.
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Heat Smart Western Sydney – Community Resources		WSROC		WSROC worked with councils, Local Health Districts and community sector organisations to develop a range of heatwave preparedness resources – pamphlets, videos and social media tiles. The Heat Smart resources were piloted with communities and are available in 10 languages.
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Heat and UV Smart Playgrounds		Cumberland City Council and Western Sydney University		A case study into making playgrounds safer for families and children during hot weather.
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Heatwave Emergency Sub-Plan		NSW Government		This sub-plan sets out the arrangements for the control and coordination of, the preparation for, response to and immediate recovery from heatwave events within NSW.
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Heatwaves: Climate Change Impact Snapshot		NSW Environment & Heritage		Heatwaves are a significant hazard in Australia for people and the environment. They have been responsible for more human deaths than any other natural hazard, including bushfires, storms, tropical cyclones and floods. Office of Environment and Heritage has used the projections from NARCliM to provide updated information on the projected impacts of climate change on heatwaves in the near future (2030) and far future (2070).
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How Cool is my Kindy? Thermal Assessment of Outdoor Play Space in Early Learning Centres across Western Sydney		Western Sydney University		This ongoing study documents quality and quantity of shade as well as surface temperatures in outdoor play spaces of a number of early learning centres in Western Sydney.
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How Eucalypts Respond to Heatwaves		Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University		Using unique outdoor climate-controlled pods to test the response of Australia’s native eucalypts to climate change, this research discovered that trees “sweat” to cool themselves during record-breaking heat waves.
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Living Beneath a Cool Roof				Research into the benefits of cool roofing. A green roof system is a proven way to tackle urban heat, with benefits for the residents of an individual building and for a city precinct more broadly. In particular, green roof systems are an effective approach to urban heat management in densely populated cities such as Hong Kong where heat has major impacts on the local climate and on liveability. The study finds significant benefits are available from the implementation of extensive green roofs including improving visual amenity, reducing urban island heat effect and improving air quality. However, major constraints come from a lack of government support and attitudinal difficulties in retrofitting existing buildings.
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Minimising the impacts of extreme heat: A guide for local government		NSW Office of Environment and Heritage		This guide seeks to clarify roles and responsibilities in relation to extreme heat events and will examine ways in which local government can minimise the impacts of such events by adapting existing systems, procedures and activities.
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Natural Hazards - Public Health considerations		NSW Ministery of Health		This handbook is a rapid reference tool that supports the immediate preparation, response and recovery phases of public health emergency management of natural hazards.
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Rapid Response Report: Study of heatwave impacts on residents and businesses in Western Sydney		Bureau of Meteorology and Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre		This research was conducted for the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) by Risk Frontiers with the support of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre (BNHCRC). The BoM aims to use the findings of this study and future surveys to inform the development of its heatwave service, warnings, and updates. The study delivers valuable knowledge on key issues of risk perception and how residents and businesses respond to heatwave warnings and cope with extreme heat.
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Resilience Strategy		Endeavour Energy		The strategy brings together customer feedback and independent climate modelling to take a targeted approach designed to make a real difference to our most vulnerable communities
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Resilient Sydney: A strategy for city resilience 2018		Resilient Sydney		Resilient Sydney is a collaboration of all 33 metropolitan councils of Greater Sydney to develop and implement a city-wide Resilient Sydney Strategy (2018), which identifies heat as a top shock for Sydney.
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SEED the change		NSW Government		SEED is the NSW Government’s central resource for Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data. It was developed for the NSW community in a collaborative effort between government agencies to provide an accessible and reliable platform for environmental data.
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Sweltering Cities		Sweltering Cities		Rising temperatures are a public health emergency. Heatwaves are Australia's deadliest environmental disaster. We need a whole of government response including how we plan our cities, transport, energy, and health care.
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The Cool Schools Initiative		Western Sydney University		This report summarises current research in health and environmental sciences, planning policy, legislation and standards, sustainability education, and innovative design trends. Its purpose is to inform future research into student thermal comfort and cooling solutions for schools in Western Sydney and NSW
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The Critical Decade: NSW climate impacts and opportunities		Climate Commission		Report on climate change impacts and opportunities for NSW.
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The Silent Killer: Climate change and the health impacts of extreme heat		Climate Council		Study on the impacts of extreme heat on health.
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Turn Down the Heat (2018)		WSROC		Turn Down the Heat is a WSROC-led initiative that takes a collaborative, multi-sector approach to building a cooler, more resilient future for Western Sydney. The strategy outlines five key areas for action: Take action together Design and plan to cool the built environment Cool with green space and water Build a community that is healthy and prepared Innovative and responsive infrastructure
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Urban Cooling Analysis Services		University of NSW		Urban Cooling Analysis project deals with the optimisation of the climatic and microclimatic conditions in four future precincts in the South Creek of Sydney.
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Urban Heat Controls Planning Package		Penrith City Council		Penrith City Council recently adopted a standalone clause for urban heat (Penrith LEP see section 7.30) which is supported by strong DCP controls covering: tree canopy, orientation, cool materials, water-sensitive urban design and cool refuges.
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Urban Green Cover in NSW		NSW Office of Environment and Heritage		Practical guidance on how to adapt the urban environment through urban green cover projects.
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Urban Heat Planning Toolkit		WSROC		The Urban Heat Planning Toolkit has been developed to help local government strengthen their planning provisions to reduce the impacts of heat. The toolkit focuses on strategies that can be implemented in new development and redevelopment, to reduce urban heat and help people adapt. It also outlines the need to address heat across the planning system (including state controls and NCC)
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Urban Microclimate Citizen Science Project		RMIT and UNSW		In a collaboration between RMIT and the University of New South Wales, the Citizen Science Project will mobilise a league of enthusiastic citizen scientists to assist Australia’s leading Universities and scientific organisations with their research. The results from this study will provide data required for citizens to understand, mitigate, and adapt to extreme heat.
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Western Parkland City Sensor Network Project		Western Parkland City		The Western Parkland City Sensor Network Project deployed a shared, scalable sensing network across the eight local government partners. Use cases of the sensor network include Air quality & heat: enable monitoring of change over time to see the impact of policy interventions and changing infrastructure, as well as communicate alerts to citizens of high-risk days, and understand the interactions of heat with other data assets such as morbidity rates, or public transport use.
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Which Plant Where – Plant Selection Tool		Macquarie University, Western Sydney University and Hort Innovation		Which Plant Where is a subscription-based service developed by Macquarie University, Western Sydney University and Hort Innovation to provide growers, government, landscape architects and urban greening professionals with integrated tools and resources to enable climate-ready decision-making and to develop resilient green spaces of the future.

Websites

Title	Organisation		Overview
Understanding and adapting to climate change impacts in New South Wales		NSW Office of Environment and Heritage

CRC for Low Carbon Living		CRC for Low Carbon Living		National research and innovation hub for the build environment

Adapting to urban heat		University of Technology Sydney

Sydney Green Grid		Government Architect NSW		GANSW proposed a network of high-quality green space that connects town centres, public transport hubs, and major residential areas. Known as the Sydney Green Grid, it is an integral part of the Greater Sydney Region and District Plans

Greener Places		Government Architect NSW		Greener Places builds on the Sydney Green Grid strategy which was developed by GANSW to create a network of high-quality green areas that connect town centres, public transport networks and major residential areas in Sydney.

State Heatwave Subplan		NSW Office of Emergency Management		The Heatwave Sub Plan has been prepared as a Sub Plan to the New South Wales State Disaster Plan (Displan) to detail the control and coordination arrangements for the preparation for, response to, and immediate recovery from a Heatwave.

Turn Down the Heat resources

Benchmarking heat in Cumberland

Benchmarking heat in Campbelltown

Reports and research

Websites