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New GSEP Pilot Project to Cool Roofs in Jasdan India

Our cities are heating up just as incomes are rising and the cost of air conditioning units are dropping around the world. This creates a vicious cycle that drives up energy demand, puts a strain on our infrastructure and pumps more carbon into our atmosphere. It’s little wonder that cities are looking for cleaner, cooler, and more sustainable ways to deal with urban heat.

That’s where the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Global Superior Energy Performance Partnership (GSEP) Cool Roofs and Pavements Working Group comes in. A new GSEP pilot program is being launched in Jasdan, India, where they will use cool surfaces and other energy efficient technology to reduce energy use and lower utility bills in low-income housing units. The project will also train local residents in the construction of “cool” homes. This initial pilot project will start with 8 homes, but it could help the Indian government adopt these cool surface technologies on a wider scale.

The Global Cool Cities Alliance (GCCA) is coordinating the Cool Roofs and Pavements Working Group. The goals of this working group are to reduce energy use in buildings, improve the health and resiliency of urban populations and help cities prepare for the warming effects of climate change. You can learn more about GCCA’s work on GSEP here.

Rising Urban Temperatures and Air Conditioners

Look at any urban street under the blazing hot July sun, and you’ll think of high daytime temperatures and unbearable heat. It’s a vicious circle. As summer approaches and temperatures rise, we crank up the AC to stay cool indoors. Our air conditioner pumps out heat exhaust, which adds to the urban heat island effect in our cities. But at least things cool down at night – right?

Maybe not… A recent study by a team of researchers at Arizona State University (ASU) tells us that – as things heat up in the city during the day, the air conditioners we run at night are still adding to the overall urban heat island effect. They also found that nighttime exhaust has a greater effect on overall temperatures.

From ASU’s press release:

They found that the effect of the AC systems was more important during the night due to the limited depth of the urban boundary layer. The effect is stronger from late afternoon to early morning. A smaller quantity of excess AC systems heat ejected during the night can increase the air temperature more compared to a greater quantity released during the daytime when the hot sun is beating down.

You can find the full report HERE.

White Roofs Seen as Part of the Solution

Many people head for the thermostat to cool things down indoors when it gets hot outside. The problem is, running our air conditioner only makes the problem worse by adding to the strain on an already overworked energy grid, and increasing the amount of carbon in the air. This is especially true during extreme heat events. And for vulnerable populations without access to air conditioning, extreme heat could be – and often is – life-threatening.

That’s why cities are looking at other ways to naturally reduce the urban heat island effect. White roofs, reflective surfaces, and planting trees all add up to cooler temperatures as we deal with the increasingly real effects of climate change.

Read more about the problem in northern climates, and see what Toronto is doing about it.

Extreme Heat Hits Northern Cities Too

Several recent reports have shed light on the many ways climate change is affecting our way of life, and these reports have people talking about strategies for dealing with extreme heat and the resulting health problems. We expect extreme heat events down in Atlanta, GA or Los Angeles, CA. But we’re also hearing of concerns over the urban heat island effect and extreme heat in northern cities like Minneapolis, MN and Chicago, IL.

Atlanta is better able to handle these extreme heat events, with most buildings and homes equipped with air conditioning units. But cities further north may not have the cooling infrastructure to handle more extreme heat waves. Schools (which don’t have air conditioning) are shut down and children stay home. People living on the top floors of un-air conditioned buildings are in greater danger of illness or even death from this extreme heat.

Extreme heat is also affecting places like London, England, and studies tell us that unless something’s done to mitigate the impact of climate change, mortality will increase significantly. London could be looking at 800 deaths per year by 2050. Another study tells us that London could see their heat-related mortality rate jump 257% by 2050 unless steps are taken to address the effects of extreme urban heat.

The good news is that more people are beginning to understand that – even in cooler climates such as London –cool roofs can bring down the temperature in buildings, increasing comfort and reducing the chance of heat-related illness and death. It also brings down energy consumption, which means less carbon in our atmosphere.

You can learn more about extreme heat around the United States, by visiting NOAA’s extreme heat tracking site HERE.

Cool Roofs in UAE

A recent article about the benefits of cool roofing installed at Masdar in the United Arab Emirates points out a lot of what we already know about cool roofing saving energy etc. The article is worth a read, but especially for the great photo of the researchers walking on the white roof with bare feet! Good visual evidence of the cooler surfaces created by reflective roofs.

Five Ways We’re Already Killing Ourselves with Climate Change

Yesterday, the Obama Administration released the Third National Climate Assessment. This is the most comprehensive look at how human activity is changing our climate – and it’s not good news. Grist lays out 5 ways climate change is already harming us, and urban heat comes into play in two of the five points.

Urban heat kills, and it sends thousands to the emergency room during extreme heat events every year. This report tells us that not only are these events already becoming more frequent, but overall temperatures are on the rise, making them more deadly. The study also shows us that humidity is on the rise, making these extreme heat events even more unbearable – especially among vulnerable populations.

We may be sending less smog up into the air from our tailpipes, but the added heat and sunlight brought on by climate change mix with other pollutants, increasing the amount of ozone in our atmosphere. Droughts add dust and wildfires send up soot, adding to the level of pollution. The urban heat island effect makes these problems even worse for people living in our cities.
Cool roofs and reflective pavements help reduce urban heat and they save lives. And as cities add reflective surfaces to their mitigation arsenal, they’ll also save money.

Hot Town – Summer in the (Twin) Cities

Climate change and the urban heat island effect are heating things up in cities around the world. That’s not surprising in places like Los Angeles and Atlanta, but they’re finding it too hot to handle in northern cities as well.

Researchers are collecting data on urban temperatures in Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota (Twin Cities), and they’re finding cooler temperatures in areas with more vegetation and reflective surfaces. They’re hoping this data will help them map out strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change in northern climates. Part of their strategy includes installing more green and white rooftops and planting trees throughout the Twin Cities.

A National Science Foundation grant will help set up studies in other cities around the country to measure the urban heat island effect.

You can read more about it at:
Can’t take the heat? Get out of the city

GCCA Releases Cool Surfaces Retrospective 2013

Periodically, the Global Cool Cities Alliance will highlight trending topics covering a wide range of urban heat island-related issues in a feature we call Cool Retrospective. For our inaugural issue, we review cool developments in 2013.

2013 saw a number of cities make huge strides to mitigate the impacts of excess urban heat by adopting new cool surface policies. New studies identified the economic advantages of cool roofing and highlighted other critical benefits of reducing urban heat islands.

You can read all about it HERE.

Using the Roof Savings Calculator

The Roof Savings Calculator (RSC) is a joint initiative of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and White Box Technologies that models the energy use impact of various residential and commercial roof structure choices via a simple online interface. Building owners, contractors, and manufacturers use the RSC to support roof decision-making, and as part of marketing materials. It is important, therefore, to understand the current state of the RSC.

GCCA recently drafted an update on the process to redevelop, fix bugs, and validate the RSC. We ultimately recommended that, although the RSC is live, it is better to hold off on using the RSC until the full validation process is complete. You can get the whole picture on the Knowledge Base.