Cool roofs to save energy, save money and save carbon!

Nov. 26, 2010 - PRLog -- Implementing cool roof technologies has turned up to be one of the cheapest and simplest initiatives to combat climate change. New York's Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has launched the NYC Cool Roofs initiative that will use lighter-coloured roofing materials or coatings to reflect more sunlight, reducing cooling costs, cutting energy usage and improving building efficiency.

President Barack Obama’s administration has endorsed the policy, with a cool roofs policy announced for the Department of Energy (DOE) and other federal institutions, as part of his commitment to reduce the federal government’s carbon emissions 28% by 2020. All DOE buildings will install cool roofs wherever cost effective or when constructing new roofs or making repairs.

Cool roofs can also reduce the ‘urban heat island’ effect, where dark-coloured roofs and pavements absorb the sun’s heat, leading to significantly warmer temperatures in cities and towns compared with rural areas.
Cool roofs are one of the quickest and lowest cost ways to cut carbon emissions

The DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has already installed over 185,000 m2 of cool roofs at its facilities, saving an average of 70% in heating and cooling costs a year. Over the next 15 years, NNSA expects cool roofs to save over $10 million in energy costs. US’s Energy Secretary Steven Chu said “Cool roofs are one of the quickest and lowest cost ways we can reduce our global carbon emissions.”

Light coloured surfaces reflect more sunlight than dark ones do, turning less of the sun’s energy into heat. Increasing the reflectiveness of buildings and paved surfaces—whether through white surfaces or reflective coloured surfaces—can reduce the temperature of buildings, cities, whilst cutting energy usage and improving building efficiency.

Hashem Akbari, a Montreal-based academic, has teamed up with other scientists to found the White Roofs Alliance. It already has the backing of New York, Taipei and even Athens. Akbari has calculated that temperatures could be cut by 2.8 degrees in localities that apply the cool roofs initiative, turn roads a concrete colour and plant trees. Also, Akbari estimated in a paper in the Climatic Change journal, that one ton of carbon emissions can be offset for every 9.3 square meters of black rooftop that is painted white.

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