“We used to have an autumn, a spring, a winter. Now it's like summer all year and it doesn’t cool down until after midnight." says a resident of Pacoima, a Los Angeles neighborhood who is trying a different solution to combat extreme heat: painting the streets with a reflective coating that reduces the ambient air temperature. Acrylic epoxy coating made by roofing giant GAF reflects solar infrared radiation that would normally be absorbed by asphalt (click here for the company's press release). After a second layer is added, the pavement will be gray in color, in contrast to the current black. The coating is being applied to nearly 1 million square meters of roads, playgrounds and parking lots in an area of 10 blocks, impacting an estimated 7,300 people living in the area. 2020 study titled "Solar reflective pavements—A policy panacea to heat mitigation?" published in Environmental Research Letters (click here to access) reported that the use of such coatings lowered the pavement temperature by up to 10°. This is important as heat absorbed by roads and other surfaces during the day is released at night, keeping temperatures high. Click on the image below to know more. And here for a post already published in this blog about the demand for lighter roofs and bigger gardens in the Sydney suburb of Wilton, Australia.
