{"id":456479,"date":"2026-02-03T21:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/456479\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T21:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:37:14","slug":"sydney-students-tackle-climate-change-livability-as-world-records-hottest-three-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/456479\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney students tackle climate change livability as world records hottest three years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Products designed by Sydney university students could help tackle symptoms of climate change, after the world experienced its hottest three years on record.<\/p>\n

South-eastern Australia itself recently baked during two heatwaves that broke temperature records<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Western Sydney sweltered through two consecutive days above 42 degrees Celsius for the first time in seven years.<\/p>\n

But these students are innovating ways to make life easier in a warming climate<\/a>, designing cooling devices, air purifiers and re-imagined bus shelters.<\/p>\n

Cooling temperatures\"Ms Ms Bucknell’s Terracol design could be fitted to street lights.(ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) product design student Isabella Bucknell has created Terracol.<\/p>\n

It is a 2.2 metre vertical cooling system designed to attach to street lights which could “passively cool the surrounding area, improving comfort and usability”.<\/p>\n

The two 12-litre catchments collect rainwater, which is released by a sensor in 30 to 35C temperatures.<\/p>\n

The water makes its way into four chambers which have three terracotta panels each.<\/p>\n

“That water combined with the porous surface would naturally cool the [surrounding] air by about six degrees,” the 20-year-old said.<\/p>\n

“Then you have a secondary layer of cooling behind that which is your polymer composite phase change material and that absorbs hot air during the day and releases it later at night.”<\/p>\n

\"Ms Ms Bucknell with a miniature version of the Terracol design.(ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n

At the bottom, four 4-litre catchments collect any excess rainwater from the system and pump it back to the top via a submersible pump.<\/p>\n

Ms Bucknell said an AI program calculated the system could cool temperatures in a 4-metre radius.<\/p>\n

“It was more just making that comfortable environment … or allowing you to walk in these outdoor environments during peak heat<\/a> rather than sort of altering the way you use outdoor climates,” she said.<\/p>\n

“On these 35 degree summer days, there’s a big decrease in outdoor activity.”<\/p>\n

\"A Ms Bucknell hopes her design would make people feel more comfortable to exercise on hot days.(ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n

Ms Bucknell estimated if there was large-scale manufacturing, it could take one to three weeks to make, but providing a costing was not part of the project.<\/p>\n

She is considering pitching the product to councils and governments.<\/p>\n

Purifying air\"Ms Ms Rollo made the design out of environmentally-friendly materials.(ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n

Fellow design student Freya Rollo has created Luft, an air purification module that could be attached to the walls of train platforms.<\/p>\n

“You can either lean against it or congregate around it as you would on a normal train platform and while you’re doing that, it’s purifying the air,” Ms Rollo said.<\/p>\n

The aluminium-coated anti-vandalism pod contains fans and two filters: a pre-filter and a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) carbon activated filter, which she said are easy to maintain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She estimated it would need to be maintained three to four times a year so it could efficiently continue to filter pollutants from the air.<\/p>\n

The pods have fire retardant inside so it can self extinguish if needed, which meets NSW train station safety standards.<\/p>\n

\"Ms A miniature version of Ms Rollo’s design.(ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n

AI determined the system could filter 300 metres square of air per hour.<\/p>\n

“Which is equivalent to around 700 breaths of clean air and creates around a two-to-three metre bubble of fresh air for commuters,” the 20-year-old said.<\/p>\n

“There’s also a sticker on the ground which has a call-to-action, a tagline and a QR code on it to provide actionable and familiar education about air pollution and the effects.”<\/p>\n

\"People Ms Rollo’s design could be installed on the walls of Central Train Station.(ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n

There is no publicly available information about their air quality.<\/p>\n

In August last year, a study estimated traffic pollution contributed to more than 1,800 premature deaths per year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is linked to health conditions including heart and lung disease, chest infections, asthma and diabetes.<\/p>\n

Ms Rollo hopes to work on projects across multiple industries and not get stuck “designing a piece of furniture for the rest of my life”.<\/p>\n

Re-imagining bus stops\"A The Canopy Project – Canopy design(Supplied: Joseph Chong)<\/p>\n

The Canopy Project – Canopy design (Supplied: Joseph Chong)<\/p>\n

\"A The Canopy Project – Sapling design.(Supplied: Joseph Chong)<\/p>\n

The Canopy Project – Sapling design (Supplied: Joseph Chong)<\/p>\n

\"A The Canopy Project – Seedling design.(Supplied: Joseph Chong)<\/p>\n

The Canopy Project – Seedling design (Supplied: Joseph Chong)<\/p>\n

Five students from the University of Sydney have designed The Canopy Project.<\/p>\n

They were given a brief from Sweltering Cities, who partnered with Blacktown City Council, to re-design bus stops in Western Sydney’s Schofields to combat the urban heat island effect.<\/p>\n

Previous research by the Western Sydney advocacy group into Sydney’s worst bus stops<\/a> revealed only 37 per cent of stops in Schofields, a relatively new suburb, had shelter, seating or shade.<\/p>\n

“We figured, how could we reinvent and innovate bus stops … to actually combat extreme heat and at the same time make something that’s sustainable … that could help with the identity and maturing of Schofield?” Master of Design student Joseph Chong said.<\/p>\n

\"A Sweltering Cities conducted a survey to determine what Sydney bus stops had the worst shade and seating.(Supplied: Kim Vernon\/Sweltering Cities)<\/p>\n

They created a three-tiered solution to fit different space requirements.<\/p>\n

\"Four The Canopy Project team.(Supplied: Joseph Chong)<\/p>\n

The ‘Canopy’ design is a larger bus stop with a solar panel, native plants on top and behind, a bladeless ceiling fan, an interactive display, a micro-library, and seating made of hempcrete (a mixture of lime, hemp hurd and water) and recycled timber.<\/p>\n

The group hoped the new look and added comfort would encourage people to use the bus stops.<\/p>\n

“Even if they’re not trying to catch a bus somewhere else, there’s large enough spaces and amphitheatre-style seating for them to kind of sit down, relax and engage with one another community-wise,” Mr Chong said.<\/p>\n

The ‘Sapling’ design is slightly smaller with a solar panel, bladeless ceiling fan and an artwork by a local artist.<\/p>\n

How Tim slept rough weather<\/a><\/p>\n

Tim knows firsthand the struggles of being homeless and navigating the weather, but it’s experiences like his which will be the focus of a newly formed Australian Climate and Homelessness Alliance.<\/p>\n

The smallest ‘Seedling’ design has a button-controlled adjustable shade with a solar panel over a circular seat with an interactive display attached.<\/p>\n

Mr Chong said Sweltering Cities “really loved their ideas”.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old said he would like to work in an industrial design role and contribute to the sustainability of Australia.<\/p>\n

Griffith University emeritus professor of science, technology and society, Ian Lowe, said the focus should be on the root causes.<\/p>\n

“The last three years are the three hottest years ever [globally],” he said.<\/p>\n

“And we are now being advised that what were previously extreme and aberrant summers, like the summer of 2019-20, will within a decade be a normal season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I think if we don’t address the root causes, it’s a bit like saying we should invest in treatments for lung cancer rather than encouraging people not to smoke.”\"Dr Dr Lowe says undergraduate students play an important role in designing for the future.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

Dr Lowe also said undergraduate students should “learn about sustainability”, no matter what they are studying.<\/p>\n

“Whatever profession they go into, they will be making choices that either improve or slow down the prospect of us having a sustainable future,” he said.<\/p>\n

“If our civilisation is to survive, we’re going to have to slow down climate change.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Products designed by Sydney university students could help tackle symptoms of climate change, after the world experienced its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[30897,64,63,235154,36514,68,89086,36574,460,75,235162,1474,6145,235153,235163,235158,6348,6042,235157,235161,128,7128,11510,135830,5327,2261,98859,670,105,235156,2701,235160,235159,235155,69471,210608,53449],"class_list":["post-456479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-air","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bus-stop","tag-clean-air","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-scientist","tag-commuters","tag-design","tag-environment","tag-ian-lowe","tag-innovation","tag-inventions","tag-island-effect","tag-livability","tag-luft","tag-pollution","tag-products","tag-rainwater","tag-schofields","tag-science","tag-solar","tag-solutions","tag-street-light","tag-students","tag-sustainability","tag-sweltering-cities","tag-sydney","tag-technology","tag-terracol","tag-terracotta","tag-the-canopy-project","tag-traffic-pollution","tag-train-station","tag-university-of-sydney","tag-urban-heat","tag-uts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}