Keeping carparks cool with vine leaves
- World Half Full
- Jun 19
- 2 min read
ENVIRONMENT
Shading notoriously hot carparks with vines planted two years ago is slashing surface temperatures by up to half on summer days in Merrylands in Western Sydney.
Results from a study by Western Sydney University (WSU) and Cumberland City Council show that on the hottest days surface temperatures drop from 70°C to 35°C when in shade. Air temperatures were also down by up to 2.5°C under the vines.
The vine-covered trellises are part of what the study reports as Australia’s first cool carpark.
Fast-growing vines grow over the top of metal supporting structures and then spread over a stainless steel mesh roof. And good news — no car parking spaces have been lost due to the shade structure.
Cumberland Mayor Ola Hamed says the project is promising for the area where temperatures in summer heatwaves have reached 45°C. “Cooling also means the asphalt itself has a longer lifespan, which means less money from council’s budget,” she says.
WSU’s Professor Sebastian Pfautsch, who has been studying the effect of these vine-covered trellises for the past three years, says the vines are expected to grow completely over the metal wire mesh in two years. The trellises are made of a wire mesh that birds couldn’t rest on, so residents won’t find their cars defecated on, and the vines don’t grow fruit that could drop on parked vehicles.
“If we’re serious about reducing the urban heat island effect and all its negative impacts on the community, then carparks are a low-hanging fruit," Pfautsch says.
Pfautsch says more than six square kilometres of Western Sydney are dark-surfaced carparks, and only 1% of that is effectively shaded.
A WSU report notes the problem is especially acute in Sydney’s west where there’s a greater reliance on cars due to inadequate public transport.
Urban heat islands are particularly harsh in Western Sydney where temperatures can reach above 40°C during summer heatwaves. Pfautsch also says the region has hotter temperatures in summer due to the geographical bowl that traps heat in, and also because urban sprawl has been replacing green environments. “That bowl means once you have hot air in it, it’s very difficult to blow it out,” he notes.
Another ‘cool carpark’ has been set up in nearby Wentworthville, also in the Cumberland council area. Hamed hopes more of them could be set up at carparks in the area, including at public and privately owned carparks.
TOP The vines are expected to grow across the rest of the mesh over the next two years.
TOP PHOTO ABC Radio Sydney/Declan Bowring BOTTOM PHOTO Cumberland City Council
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