New wireless temperature sensor installed at ecoPOPs

Anir and Raz pointing to Ysense temperature logger on Bondi Beach ecoPOPs   A temperature logger has been installed by Anir Upadhyay to measure the temperature from the shade created by the Bondi Beach ecoPOPs. Anir Upadhyay, is a PhD student at the University of Sydney under the supervision of Professor Richard Hyde. Anir and a friend, Raz, have designed a wireless data logger. Anir and Raz have configured the data logger with a temperature and humidity sensor. It collects... Read More

Launch today of national Cool Streets Campaign

Blast off. The Total Environment Centre and Jeff Angel today launch their national Cool Streets Campaign, or as their news release puts it:                           MEDIA ALERT                                2 August 2012           AUSTRALIA NEEDS COOL STREETS TEC’s new campaign to reclaim the streets will launch tomorrow, with the construction of NSW’s first ecoPOP.   “A properly functioning... Read More

Cool our cities by cooling our streets

In the summer the meat ant on the western plain of Sydney carts small reflective, silvery pebbles to it’s ants nest.  These reflect the sun’s heat and cool their nest.   In winter the meat ant replaces the pebbles with dark coloured ones.  These absorb the sun’s heat and warm their nest.   Here’s an invitation to our culture to match the meat ant: vimeo.com…   Black is ‘cool’, but it’s not . . . this video explains... Read More

The Sustainable Communities Plan is on the web

Sydney City Council asked me to make a plan to make the whole suburb of Chippendale sustainable. It’s not just a plan for this suburb; it can be used to make any suburb sustainable – it’s free and you’re welcome to put it to work where you are. Now the Plan can be read on mobiles, kindles and is very easy to search, use and tweet.  Get it here: theplan.sustainablehouse.com… Enjoy. You can see some of the folks who support the Plan. Please sign the... Read More

Special series on cities

This week The Australian newspaper carries a series of articles on cities, here: www.theaustralian.com… There’s an interesting one about planning, here: www.theaustralian.com… I’ve written one about the future of roads, here: www.theaustralian.com… Enjoy, Michael  Read More

Heat island goes mainstream at last

On 30 June the Melbourne Forum will host a free conference, Combating the urban heat island. The flier for it says: Urban development dramatically changes the landscape. Buildings, roads, and other infrastructure replace open land and vegetation. Surfaces that were once permeable and moist become impermeable and dry. These changes cause urban regions to become warmer than their rural surroundings, forming an “island” of higher temperatures in the landscape. The negative... Read More

Heat island being measured in Chippendale

Sydney City Council has begun to publish the temperatures of two roads in Chippendale at: - the intersection of Myrtle and Abercrombie, in Myrtle on the southern side about 20 metres from Abercrombie:  this section of road receives direct eastern and western sun, is black, treeless and causes a lot of avoidable heat - in Buckland street across from Levey Street; this section of road is shielded from the sun by buildings and trees with good canopy You can tell where the temperature... Read More