We are excited to announce the results of our Hot Roofs project! We worked with eleven households across Sydney to measure temperatures in their homes and compare light and dark roofs.
We know dark roofs, especially black roof materials absorb heat. In Western Sydney new developments continue to be built with black roofs, dark roads and limited space for trees, this is exacerbating the urban heat island effect and making homes highly reliant on air conditioning to be able to keep safe.
This is concerning in line with the 2023-24 Summer Survey, where 61% of people stated they avoid turning on air conditioners due to cost of living pressures.
Inspired by the work of Professor Sebastian Pfautsch, we ran a citizen science project to learn more about the impacts of dark roofs by connecting community members with scientific research.
To better understand the impact of dark roofs, temperature monitors were installed in eleven homes across Western Sydney from January to March to assess both external and internal temperatures. These devices recorded temperatures inside roof cavities, in living areas and outside. We collected data from both, dark and light roof homes to compare temperatures between them.
The results tell a powerful story, and highlight the urgent need to ban black roofs in NSW.
Report Highlights:
- The hottest temperature recorded was in Deborah’s Campbelltown home. Her roof cavity reached 49.8°C.
- There was up to an 11°C difference between light and dark roofs.
- Dark roof temperatures impacted temperatures in living spaces, with internal temperatures soaring to 40°C.
- New homes, with black roofs recorded temperatures over 40°C, higher than external heat.
We will be presenting our findings to the NSW Government to demand a legislative ban on dark roofs in new housing developments in hot suburbs. Here are some of our other recommendations:
- Update regulations for new builds
- Update energy efficiency standards with future climate data so that the homes built now are safe in a future, hotter climate.
- Government funding to retrofit existing homes to be cooler and more energy efficient.
- Add new green and blue infrastructure in hot suburbs.
- Place responsibility on developers, designers and councils via policy instruments to
- prevent communities from bearing the cost impacts
Thank you to all of our participants in this study. In addition to collecting temperature data, our participants also shared their stories about some of the unknown challenges in living in a hot suburb with a hot roof. The Hot Roofs Report and Deborah’s story made the news, read the ABC’s coverage here.
We would also like to sincerely thank Professor Sebastian Pfautsch and Dr Kim Loo for their guidance and support during the course of this study.
