In response to the increasing severity of urban heat, caused by intensified urban development and compounded by climate change, the City of Kingston developed an Urban Cooling Strategy that included a suite of municipal wide actions to tackle urban heat.
City of Kingston
Sustainable Planning
Tess Kelly
Context
HIP V. HYPE was engaged to develop a report that would facilitate discussions between Council and the residential development sector around the strategies and costs associated with 'urban cooling' elements at the dwelling-scale. The analysis looked at roofing, surface treatments, walls & facades, shading, vegetation and surface water.
The project assists in embedding climate adaptation within planning assessment, and equipped Council planners with the knowledge to engage with developers regarding urban heat, and mitigation techniques.
- Assess existing planning applications to identify 'BAU' materials and design responses
- Create a matrix that compares the cost of these BAU elements against a range of alternative materials and design responses aimed at 'cooling' the dwelling and immediate microclimate
- Summarise findings in a concise internal report for Council, and facilitated a workshop with the planning department to identify 'hotspots' within designs and what to suggest as an alternative