This summer we’re working with residents across Western Sydney to set up thermometers in their homes to measure the impact of roof colour. Join us in our collective effort to advocate for cooler suburbs and safer homes in Western Sydney through this citizen science project!
Sweltering Cities has teamed up with built environment and health experts in Western Sydney to present powerful evidence to NSW Government and the media about the effect of dark roofs in exacerbating temperatures. We know that dark roofs can cause indoor temperatures to increase by up to 10°C, posing a lethal threat to households during hot summers. We’re inspired by the work of Dr Sebastian Pfautsch of Western Sydney University who has worked with Penrith and other councils to measure local heat, and spoken out against dark roofs.
Extreme Heat in Western Sydney
As our summers get hotter, the physical and mental health consequences of extreme heat will also worsen. Already, heatwaves are Australia’s deadliest environmental disaster, causing more deaths than bushfires and flooding events. Western Sydney is acutely impacted by extreme heat, with temperatures often up to 10°C hotter than the rest of Sydney. In addition to its inland and low-lying geography, Western Sydney’s built environment, including its abundant black roofs and scare trees to provide shade, cause temperatures to swelter during summer.
Dark roofs absorb and retain heat, exacerbating the urban heat island effect. New housing developments in Western Sydney continue to be built with dark roofs and inadequate space to accommodate trees that can mature enough to provide shade and natural cooling. This is not an isolated or individual issue affecting only households with dark roofs as the more dark roofs a suburb has, the hotter the entire area will be. We need to take decisive action now to ban dark roofs.
NSW Planning and Environment Ministers have indicated an interest to move forward with regulations to ban dark roofs but, in order to do so, they require local case studies that illustrate the impacts of dark roofs. We are reaching out to our Western Sydney supporters and contacts to take part in a project that brings together scientific evidence, health information, and community summer stories.
Get Involved!
We are seeking 12 households across Western Sydney who can install temperature monitors, tell their summer stories, and participate in media
- If you are interested, email us with details on your roof colour, material, insulation, and solar installation
- We will then install small temperature monitors inside the roof cavity, outside and in a living space in your home. You won’t have to do anything with the thermometers once they’re set up.
- The temperature monitors will track the data for 2.5 months, during which you can keep a diary about how the summer heat impacts your daily routines. We believe every household in our hottest suburbs have an important story to tell about extreme heat.
- If your household has solar panels, we will also ask you to provide some information about your solar energy production.
- The scientific evidence and case studies that you provide will then be delivered to NSW Government and the media top support practical climate solutions in our built environment
If you want to participate in this vital project and/or have any questions, please contact info@swelteringcities.org. Let’s work together to build a climate-resilient future for our hottest suburbs!
