Comments on: The White Roof Solution

By: matt

matt — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:21:00 +0000

We’ve been installing white roofs for years. People literally come out of their houses and building laughing, saying, “i had to turn off the air consitioning”. Even the Dept of Energy has a calculator to figure your savings from a white, foam, or cool roof. Go to ornl.gov or http://www.aclimateseal.com

By: Smack

Smack — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:56:04 +0000

I happen to work in the construction industry. This is the correct approach to combat the urban heat island effect. The green washed people who preach vegetative roofs are completely off the mark. Highly reflective roofs lower energy consumption (less carbon)and require less maintenance.

By: Johnny Cat

Johnny Cat — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:02:11 +0000

But isn’t there some rule about white after Labor Day? *rimshot

By: Witty Nickname

Witty Nickname — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:39:54 +0000

Hmm, interesting to consider… My insurance company, thanks to Hurricane Ike, are going to buy me a new roof. I don’t know about white shingles, but maybe a lighter color.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:53:23 +0000

Here in the northern reaches, having blacktop roads is good for helping to melt snow & ice in the winter.

By: PartiallyDeflected

PartiallyDeflected — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:44:49 +0000

They’ve used white gravel on those flat asphalt roofs for decades. Nothing new here.

By: Gourry

Gourry — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:34:11 +0000

The world doesn’t need “saving”.

By: kelly

kelly — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:02:04 +0000

i had actually thought of this before. well, actually, my friend and i decided that what we really needed to do was get all of the really pale people of the world (including ourselves) and get them to lay outside all day. our white skin would reflect tons of sunlight back into space! and what’s a sunburn when you’re saving the world? ^_^

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:01:13 +0000

I saw a video with a child inventor who’s idea was to have roofs that had a step build. The horizontal sides of the steps would be painted white to reflect sunlight when the sun was high in the sky (summer) and black on the vertical sides of the stairs to retain the heat (winter). Looked like a great idea, especially in temperate climates.

By: ann

ann — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:50:34 +0000

Lighter colored roads also seem more dangerous to me; but of course, there are various colors that could be tried. As far as concrete roads- Is concrete a material that can be used for highways? I’ve seen many concrete roads in cities in low speed limit areas; is it durable enough for bigger roads? Is it already used for bigger roads? (That’s a real question that I’d be interested in hearing an answer to.)

Overall, this seems like a fantastic and relatively simpe way to make a big difference in the fight against global warming.