Solar reflective coatings vs. Insulating paints – What’s the truth?






SEE: Lawrence Berkeley Labs Cool Color Database




SEE: Energy Secretary Chu’s Comments





Why solar reflective coatings now?


There are always multiple reasons why technological advances that come with positive cultural, global, and societal impact make sense and are taken up successfully by people, but their uptake isn’t always fast. Key is does it really make a difference and does it change quality of life for everyone? Rarely. Does the technology have broad implications that impact both individuals, families, communities, nations, their populations, the natural living world (trees – plants – animals – insects – fish-bacteria – microorganisms) and the global environment positively, without those impacts being negative at some point in their lifespan? If you could decide to make a difference in the climate challenge of our lifetimes with a simple decision to REPAINT your property with  solar reflective coating technology that will benefit everyone, would you do it?


Today we have the oportunity to coat most buldings with special infrared pigmented, colored coatings, highly reflective, super-durable paint-like material, that reduces building interior and exterior temperatures 10 to 90 degrees depending upon color comparison, location and original materials being overcoated. They have immediate benefits in the cooling of each building’s “envelope” such that interior quality of life is bettered and air-conditioning use is lowered. Longer term savings mean lessening of all building maintenance costs and wonder of wonders, reduced outside air temperatures from less thermal reradiation of the sun’s heat. Therefore, incremental steps toward reducing global warming are a immediate direct benefit.

Sometimes a vision of newness is visually dramatic and patriotic, even awe inspiring and we all “see” it. A great example was the Space Shuttle. Remember its wonder and validity to further knowledge and provide human access to the edge of space, for scientific, commercial and industrial advantages. Today, we know that it punches holes into the ozone layer, damaging it measurably with each launch and yielding tremendous pollution with detrimental environmental consequences. How about a technology that has way more benefits than demerits for a change?


An invention intrinsic to the building construction issue is concrete. It is an ancient Roman creation that was a revolution to construction which when reinforced with steel enabled skyscrapers and freeways to come into being. Did you know that concrete stores heat from the sun and it heats up our atmosphere substantially due to its ubiquitous use? Did you know that it deteriorates slowly to probable failure at some point in its life span? Unless it is coated, it will eventually fail and need repair or replacement due to water deterioration to the reinforcing rebar. As it is now, due to the scale and widespread nature of it’s use, concrete is a major contributor to the “Urban Heat Island Effect” since unpainted concrete acts as a thermal heat sink in all sun exposed locations and “re-radiates” the thermally accumulated sun’s radiation into the atmosphere after the sun goes down. The overheated air in cities and suburbs catalyzes more air pollution by chemical reactions which occur as the atmospheric temperatures increase. Massive carbon pollution further occurs from generation of the electricity at fuel-burning utility plants supplying the energy to run air conditioners inside millions of such buildings into the night.


Asphalt roads, parking lots, grey concrete slabs, tar and gravel roofs, dark asphalt composition shingle roofs are an even greater cause of the heating up of the atmosphere for the reasons already discussed plus the fact that more heat absorbing surface areas are black asphalt than structural concrete. Translation: Even more heat is stored and reradiated every day when the sun goes down and these surfaces let their heat storage go out into the air.  Cool coating dark roofs and all sun-facing, dark asphalt surfaces, are critical elements to the solar reflective coatings issue.


These are major keys to how the carbon footprint is created when the issue of fuel burning to create the electricity to run the air conditioner in buildings is also included in th equation. In the immediate term, infrared, solar reflective coatings must be broadly adopted and supported by legislation and local government.

Could you imagine building a much better rocket ship that is energy efficient and carbon neutral? Could you imagine coating concrete so it is waterproof, breathes, lasts much longer, prevents pollution, saves huge money from lowered electrical use and doesn’t really heat up from the sun? Could you imagine coating the asphalt roads, parking lots and roofs the same way? The former requires a completely new technology, a new rocket ship. The latter requires thinking out-of-the-box, pro-actively choosing a smarter low-impact solution to a ubiquitous problem not practical to be replaced for millions of existing structures. This cool coating technology’s benefits will not let us see global results right away and the majority walking by it on the street level won’t even know the solar reflective coating is there. All solar reflective coated buildings will show their benefits to be measurable right away by lowered electrical use, and as time progresses in locally reduced air temperatures.

Do you know the best answer to the the title question now?

OK, you are now a mini-expert! Most people have no clue about this information and you are called to serve this cause, educating others – for the practical, immediate need to cool coat building walls and roofs with solar reflective coatings. It is a critical pathway change benefitting all of us.


