Award Win for Sustainability Initiative

Edge is leading the delivery of the Cool Suburbs Tool, as part of a project team which also includes HARC Consulting, Kinesis and the Water Sensitive Cities Institute. The project has been supported by a science panel to develop the evidence base for the tool including subject matter experts from Monash University, University of Melbourne, University of NSW and Western Sydney University. 

As a business working on end-to end strategy through to implementation for the creation of cooler cities, Edge is excited to be involved with this ground–breaking project. 

“As the impacts of climate change increase, developers and planners around Australia are looking at how they create cool cities that are more resilient to extreme heat. The Cool Suburbs Tool is the first rating tool that fully integrates urban heat science in a way that can help build cooler cities,” said Mark Siebentritt, Director at Edge Environment. 

The tool will help developers, planners and home owners make better decisions about how to create cool cities. Importantly, the Cool Suburbs Tool covers multiple scales and will provide rating support from a landscape and precinct scale down to individual lots. While the current version relates specifically to Western Sydney, the structure of the Tool can easily be adapted for other cities in Australia and around the world. 

The Greater Sydney Planning Awards, presented by the Greater Sydney Commission, recognises collaborative, innovative and bold initiatives that will deliver benefits to communities, the economy and the environment. 

This project is a partnership between WSROC and Resilient Sydney and has been assisted by the New South Wales Government and supported by local Government NSW.