Bright is the new black—multi-year performance of high-albedo roofs in an urban climate
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15544636 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stuart R Gaffin (Columbia University, corresponding author), Marc L Imhoff (Goddard Space Flight Center), M Imhoff, Cynthia Rosenzweig (0000-0002-8541-2201, Columbia University), R Khanbilvardi (City College of New York), Angelica Pasqualini (0000-0002-1300-7688, Columbia University), A K H Kong (0000-0002-5105-344X, Columbia University), A Y Y Kong, D Grillo, A M Freed (0000-0001-8618-715X, New York City Council), A Freed, Daniel Hillel (Columbia University), E Hartung (Columbia University) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 014029-014029 |
| Publication date | 2012-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/7/1/014029 |
| OpenAlex | W2170733158 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 19 |
High-albedo white and cool roofing membranes are recognized as a fundamental strategy that dense urban areas can deploy on a large scale, at low cost, to mitigate the urban heat island effect. We are monitoring three generic white membranes within New York City that represent a cross section of the dominant white membrane options for US flat roofs: (1) an ethylene–propylene–diene monomer (EPDM) rubber membrane; (2) a thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) membrane; and (3) an asphaltic multi-ply built-up membrane coated with white elastomeric acrylic paint. The paint product is being used by New York City's government for the first major urban albedo enhancement program in its history. We report on the temperature and related albedo performance of these three membranes at three different sites over a multi-year period. The results indicate that the professionally installed white membranes are maintaining their temperature control effectively and are meeting the Energy Star Cool Roofing performance standards requiring a three-year aged albedo above 0.50. The EPDM membrane shows evidence of low emissivity; however this had the interesting effect of avoiding any 'winter heat penalty' for this building. The painted asphaltic surface shows high emissivity but lost about half of its initial albedo within two years of installation. Given that the acrylic approach is such an important 'do-it-yourself', low-cost, retrofit technique, and, as such, offers the most rapid technique for increasing urban albedo, further product performance research is recommended to identify conditions that optimize its long-term albedo control. Even so, its current multi-year performance still represents a significant albedo enhancement for urban heat island mitigation
Albedo (alchemy · Composite material · Membrane · Reflective surfaces · Chemistry · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Environmental Science · Materials Science · Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies · Urban Heat Island Mitigation
The relative role of solar reflectance and thermal emittance for passive daytime radiative cooling technologies applied to rooftops
Systematic review on cooling benefits of landscape strategies for urban thermal environments in the United States
The dominant factors and influence of urban characteristics on land surface temperature using random forest algorithm
Reflective ‘cool’ roofs under aerosol-burdened skies
Urban heat mitigation by roof surface materials during the East Asian summer monsoon
The effectiveness of cool and green roofs as urban heat island mitigation strategies
Seasonal hydroclimatic impacts of Sun Corridor expansion
Top-of-atmosphere radiative cooling with white roofs
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,57 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2025 (14) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |