Leafy green roofs and walls are cool

Green roofs and walls can be a very cool architectural feature of buildings, but how cool are they really? A new study sets out to answer this question, specifically looking at the cooling effect of green roofs, walls and other living infrastructure in Canberra, and researchers need your help!

In an urban context, living infrastructure means things like street trees, ovals, wetlands, creeks, nature reserves, parks and private yards, as well as green roofs, plants on balconies and living walls.

Living infrastructure improves a city’s capacity to cope with the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. For example, living infrastructure can keep the city cool and mitigate the ‘urban heat island effect’.

The urban heat island effect is when roads, footpaths and buildings absorb the sun's heat and radiate it back, raising both daytime and night-time temperatures.

To fully understand just how effective living infrastructure is at mitigating the urban heat island effect, the ACT Government is partnering with CSIRO to undertake further studies.

Sensors, placed in different locations around Canberra, will collect data on air temperature and relative humidity over the warmer months of the year.

Researchers working on the study are currently on the lookout for sensor locations on green roofs and walls so that their effectiveness can be compared alongside other types of living infrastructure including trees and shrubs, bioretention basins and wetlands.

The data will tell researchers what types and arrangements of vegetation are most effective at reducing the urban heat island effect in our city. You can contribute to this important work by suggesting a green roof or wall that you think would be a good spot for a sensor.

Proposed locations for sensors will be developed in October, and installation is scheduled to occur in mid-November 2022. If you know of a green roof or wall, please get in touch by email: epsdd.sustainabilitypolicy@act.gov.au

Read about Canberra’s Living Infrastructure Plan.

Learn about making climate-wise choices in your own garden in Gawari Ngilanmanyin: Remembering the Bush A Climate-wise Landscape Guide for the ACT [PDF 16.7MB].