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Cool Buildings iconCool Buildings

Cool buildings focus on workplaces, community hubs and places of worship where people can gather for shelter from very hot conditions. As with Cool Homes, Cool Buildings Credits promote passive design principles to make buildings more resilient to high outdoor temperatures and potential power outages during extreme heat.

Resilience framework for heat - Cool Buildings

Measures (credits)ReduceAdaptRespond
ThriveSurvive
CB1: Site Coverage
CB2: Site Shade
CB3: Site Irrigation
CB4: Passive Design
CB5: Cool Roofs, Green Roofs and Green Walls
CB6: Cool and/or Porous Pavements
CB7: Alternative Energy Supply

CB1: Site Coverage

2 default credit points

Outcome

Site cover provides for permeable deep soil areas for shade and evapotranspiration from site landscapes to reduce mean radiant temperatures and air temperatures and improve thermal comfort.

Criteria

> 20% of site (allotment) area provided as deep soil area (3m minimum dimension)

Guidance

Site layout should, where practicable, provide for deep soil areas to support tree canopy shade to the eastern and western facades of the /building and to ground surface hardstand areas.

Evidence Requirements

Site landscape plan showing location and extent of deep soil areas as % of total site (allotment) area.

Science Rationale

Research (36) (16) on the influence of land surface type on air temperatures shows:

  • Increasing the area of green spaces and tree canopy leads to cooling.
  • When provided in equal proportions, warming from hard surfaces exceeds cooling from green space.
  • Open space and tree canopy cover can reduce summer night-time air temperatures.
  • With reference to Figure UD4-1, effective cooling can only be achieved if the ratio of open space to hard surfaces is 2:1 or greater.
Predicted changes in mean summer air temperature along a gradient of different surface cover types and tree canopy
Figure CB1-1 Predicted changes in mean summer air temperature along a gradient of different surface cover types and tree canopy (Source: Pfautsch, S., Tjoelker, A R. (2020)).

Related Credits

  • UD1 - Wind Paths
  • UD5 - Water Sensitive Urban Design
  • CB2 - Site Shade
  • CB3 - Site Irrigation
  • CB4 - Passive Design
  • CB7 - Porous Pavements

References

(16) Pfautsch, S.' and Rouillard, S. Benchmarking Heat Across Campbelltown City, New South Wales, 2019.

(36) Pfautsch, S., Tjoelker, A R. The impact of surface cover and tree canopy on air temperature in Western Sydney. s.l.: Western Sydney University, 2020.