It’s a surface coating called CoolSeal,a product designed to reduce ambient temperatures by reflecting the sun to produce cooler surface temperatures.
Krista Milne,co-chief heat officer at the City of Melbourne,on the grey tram platform at the Australian Open.Chris Hopkins
It promises to reduce surface temperature by 5 degrees to 15 degrees and is part of a trial by the City of Melbourne and Yarra Trams that could be rolled out across the city to.
Krista Milne,one of the council’s chief heat officers,said the coating was “like a sunscreen for our footpaths”.
“We’re cooling our city and heat-proofing our city to ensure that we’re prepared for extreme heat in the face of climate change,” she said.
The City of Melbourne experiences about 11 days of extreme heat – over 35 degrees during the day with overnight lows of at least 20 degrees – each year,but that is expected to rise to an average of 16 days annually by 2050.
“Extreme heat can cause dehydration,heat stress and even death,” Milne said. “So it’s important to reduce the ambient temperature in places where people need to wait for a tram.
“We are focused particularly on workers who are working at the tram stop and also for people coming to the Australian Open so that they can reduce the heat stress in the environment.”
City of Melbourne and Yarra Trams will install microclimate sensors to monitor the effect of the trial.
The sensors will collect data on air temperature,humidity,wind,noise and particulate matter to help provide an understanding of the “feels like” temperature at the tram stop.
American Taylor Fritz finally held his serve in the first game of the match after 16 minutes.
“We’re exploring this amongst many interventions to cool the city,” Milne said. “We are in partnership with RMIT for another trial site in that precinct,and we will be likely to install that in February.”
The CoolSeal treatment is already used by councils in western Sydney and Western Australia,but Milne said the focus in those areas had been on treating roads while Melbourne had focused on high-traffic areas such as the tram stops instead.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the CoolSeal treatment helped combat urban heat and improve the experience of people travelling to the Open.
“City of Melbourne is committed to finding innovative new ways to cool the city and prioritise the health and wellbeing of residents,visitors and workers,” she said.
Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said the Open had been creating more shade across the precinct for several years.
“Although we’ve had a mild summer so far,we know it gets hot here in January and increasing the shade on-site for the AO has been a priority over the past 10 years,” he said.
Misting fans and water stations are situated around the precinct.
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