Tag Archives: Cool Roofs

GCCA Executive Director Speaks at GreenBuild Conference

Thousands of people gathered in New Orleans, LA earlier this week for the annual Greenbuild conference, to share ideas, network, tour local green buildings and hear from many terrific speakers.  From the conference website:

Greenbuild is the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building.  The green building community gathers to share ideals and mutual passion at Greenbuild, sparking a contagious buzz throughout the week.

When industry leaders, experts and frontline professionals dedicated to sustainable building in their everyday work come together, the result is a unique and palpable energy. Participants are invigorated and inspired.  They find themselves equipped to return to their jobs with a renewed sense of purpose.

GCCA Executive Director, Kurt Shickman spoke at this event about the many problems caused by the urban heat island effect, and the ways reflective surfaces can help bring relief to overheated city dwellers, reduce energy consumption, and reduce carbon emissions.  Take a look…

Los Angeles White Roofs Building Code is Online

Speaking of useful resources…

Last December, the Los Angeles City Council updated the city’s building code – which required the installation of white roofs on commercial structures – to require the installation of white roofs on new and rebuilt residential structures.  The city has put all the documents and discussion on line in their docket – including the City Attorney’s report.

Since then, several other cities (Pasadena and Hermosa Beach, CA) have enacted similar updates.  We thought it might be useful for other cities to have access to the relevant documents and reports, so we’ve added information on Los Angeles to our ToolKit Knowledge Base, which you can find HERE.

Study Shows How Increased Reflectivity Can Save Lives

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology recently published a report, in which they took a look at past heat waves in Phoenix, AZ, Philadelphia, PA and Atlanta, GA.

This study shows that by adding white roofs, reflective pavement and trees, cities can counteract temperature increases in urban areas and save lives. From an article byClimateWire …

[T]he researchers modeled how the three cities would respond to a minimum green space ratio on land parcels, setting a floor for areas covered with grass, gardens or trees. Vegetation tends to have a cooling effect by circulating moisture in the air that draws away heat during evaporation. Tree canopies also provide cooling shade.

The team also modeled how Phoenix, Philadelphia and Atlanta would behave with more reflective streets, sidewalks, parking lots and rooftops. Higher reflectivity, or albedo, means the area absorbs less sunlight, thereby lowering the temperature.

Stone and his collaborators then overlaid a health impact model.  They found that combinations of increased vegetation and albedo could cut into projected increases in heat deaths, reducing them between 40 and 99 percent. “On average, we reduced the rate of increase by about 60 percent,” Stone said.

…

Groups like the Global Cool Cities Alliance are now trying to get cities to adopt these adaptation strategies, pitching them as a way to protect public health. However, it’s slow going, given that cities around the country address heat vulnerability differently, if at all.

You can find the full study HERE.

This report parallels a recent GCCA report, which looks at Baltimore MD, New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA, and shows how reflective roofs and vegetation can cool air temperatures and save lives.

Note: Access to the ClimateWire articles is limited to subscribers.

Catch GCCA Executive Director Kurt Shickman on KCRW

Madeleine Brand, a reporter for NPR station KCRW in Santa Monica, California, noted that extreme heat is now the most deadly of weather-driven disasters.  She invited GCCA’s Executive Director, Kurt Shickman on her show to talk about the urban heat island effect, and Kurt explained how cool roofs can help cities cool down, conserve energy and save lives.  Kurt noted the many affordable color options available in today’s roofing marketplace.

They also discussed the new regulations in Los Angeles, which require white roofs on new commercial and residential buildings, as well as major roof rebuilds.

You can listen to the show here, and read more about efforts to bring down temperatures in Los Angeles with cool roofs,here.

Catch GCCA Executive Director, Kurt Shickman on KCRW

Madeleine Brand, a reporter for NPR station KCRW in Santa Monica, California, noted that extreme heat is now the most deadly of weather-driven disasters. She invited GCCA’s Executive Director, Kurt Shickman on her show to talk about the urban heat island effect, and Kurt explained how cool roofs can help cities cool down, conserve energy and save lives. Kurt noted the many affordable color options available in today’s roofing marketplace.

They also discussed the new regulations in Los Angeles, which require white roofs on new commercial and residential buildings, as well as major roof rebuilds.

You can listen to the show here, and read more about efforts to bring down temperatures in Los Angeles with cool roofs, here.

LBNL Develops New Interactive Rooftop Reflectance Map

Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have created an interactive map that displays the solar reflectance (or albedo) of individual roofs in five major California cities – Bakersfield, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose.   This is the first time scientists have attempted to map the reflectivity of entire cities.

A white / high-albedo cool roof reflects 80% of the sun’s heat, decreasing solar heating of the building. This reduces the need for air conditioning and lowers energy bills. Cool roofs could also partially counter increased urban temperatures brought on by climate change.

This map allows users to zoom in on a specific rooftop to see how it compares to the albedo of a white roof, or other roofs in the city, and is designed to help cities develop policies that could lead to cooler cities.

Ronnen Levinson, head of LBNL’s Heat Island Group and Board Member of the Global Cool Cities Alliance says this new map can be a useful tool for cities:

To assess these potential benefits for a particular city, we need to measure the reflectance of its roofs with good spatial and spectral resolution.  Our map helps bring this into focus.

You can explore LBNL’s new interactive map HERE.

Cool Roofs and Energy Efficiency in China

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has conducted the first comprehensive study of cool roofs in China and concluded that they would be an effective way to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Researchers ran simulations on residential and commercial buildings in seven cities in five climate zones, and found that light colored roofs reduced the need for air conditioning and energy consumption, and lowered the output of greenhouse gas trapping carbon dioxide.

LBNL scientist and lead author, Ronnen Levinson (member of GCCA’s Board) had this to say:

“Cool roofs have been well demonstrated in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere,” said lead author and Berkeley Lab scientist Ronnen Levinson. “While the concept is the same everywhere, we wanted to show that cool roofs would also be effective for Chinese construction, in Chinese climates, and with Chinese building operation practices.”

You can find the full study in the Toolkit’s Knowledge Base.

GCCA Executive Director Kurt Shickman on WAMU’s Metro Connection

Johnathan Wilson, environmental reporter for WAMU (a public radio station in Washington, DC) recently spoke with GCCA Executive Director, Kurt Shickman about rising global temperatures. Kurt talked about the dangers urban heat islands present to people living in cities like Washington, DC, and explained how reflective surfaces and increased vegetation help save lives in extreme heat events.

He also demonstrated how dark surfaces (black roofs) can be as much as 65 degrees hotter than lighter surfaces (white roofs).

You can listen to this WAMU broadcast here, and read a recent GCCA report about how urban heat island heat reduction strategies can help reduce mortality in cities like Washington, DC.

U.S. Dept. of Energy Releases New Video on Cool Roofs

The U.S. Department of Energy just came out with this handy 2
minute video. It explains how the urban heat island effect
works, and shows how cool roofs are a simple and
economical way to cool things down in your city on a hot day.

This edition of Energy 101 takes a look at how switching to
a cool roof can save you money and benefit the environment.
Take a look:

To watch this on DOE’s Youtube channel, click here.

Catch GGCA’s Own Kurt Shickman on WAMU’s Metro Connection

Johnathan Wilson, environmental reporter for WAMU (a public radio station in Washington, DC) recently spoke with GCCA Executive Director, Kurt Shickman about the dangers of rising urban temperatures.  Kurt explained how reflective surfaces and increased vegetation help save lives in extreme heat events.

“We’ve found that on the average heat wave that lasts about four or five days, there’s about 10 additional deaths that wouldn’t have happened without that heat,” says Shickman.

Shickman and his colleagues at the Global Cool Cities Alliance estimate D.C. will save 20 lives over the next decade if it continues to lighten its flat rooftop surfaces and plant more vegetation.

GCCA released a report last October, in which we show that increasing reflective surfaces and vegetative cover in Washington, DC is a simple and cost-effective way to save lives during extreme heat events.

You can listen to today’s broadcast on WAMU HERE.