Degrees - HVAC-R and Refrigeration Latest News

Issue #21
December/January 2012

• Christmas message
  A year of hard work
• DIY Disasters 2011
  - The Winners
• An Important Fashion Breakthrough
• Largest Rooftop Installation
• Cooling for everyone
• Whatever will they think of next?
• Product profile: SP22 Refrigerant
• Main price changes
• Christmas trading hours

Chill

Cooling Rooms in Australian cities to take the heat out of the Australian Summer

Last year we told you about the New York Cooling Rooms, air-conditioned public centres where heat-stressed people can take refuge from the Summer heat.

We’re not sure if Australian Government Departments read about this innovation in Degrees last year, but they’ve picked up on the idea, and they’re thinking about introducing them here.

A recent study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in collaboration with government and meteorology experts found that Cooling Rooms may become necessary by 2050, when illness and even deaths from extreme heat events are likely to double today’s toll. It’s all part of the Government’s preparations for a future, hotter era. It is one option for those whose lives may depend on respite from 45º temperatures.

Already heat is a killer. In fact heatwaves kill more Australians than any other natural disaster. While 173 people died tragically in the 2009 Victorian bushfires, 374 people died as a result of extreme heat in the same week. And with global warming, extreme heat events are likely to be more frequent and more intense.

The report found that Melbourne and Brisbane are likely to be hardest hit by rising temperatures. By 2050, the number of heatwave days could more than triple in Melbourne, but changes are expected to have a minimal impact on Sydney because of its lower maximum temperatures.

Of course the questions people are asking about the effectiveness of Cooling Rooms is how will elderly and vulnerable people get to them on a 45º day? We believe we have the answer: air-conditioned footpaths.