Think Green Live Clean

Photo Credit: Rennett Stowe

While progress towards solutions to climate change are being made with trends such as electric cars, carbon credit trading, solar panels and windmill energy; it is a simple building strategy that could offset billions of tons of CO2.  The concept that is cutting costs and emissions is the “cool roof,” which is a shiny plasticized white covering on roofs that rely on the principle that white objects absorb less heat than dark objects.

The movement towards cool roofs has demonstrated how beneficial this small change in construction can be to benefit one’s energy bill. Studies are showing that white roofs reduce air-conditioning costs by 20 percent, making it one of the most affordable shields to global warming. And while the roofs may be slightly more expensive than dark ones (about 15 percent), the savings later will more than make up for it.

Countries all over the world are adopting the reflective roofs in an effort to cut back on energy costs.  In the U.S., California, Florida and Georgia have adopted building codes encouraging light roofs for commercial buildings.

Member of the California Energy Commission, Art Rosenfeld has supported the light colored roofs since the 1980s, and claims that turning all of the world’s roofs light over the next twenty years could save the equivalent of 24 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions.  “That is what the whole world emitted last year,” Mr. Rosenfeld said. “So, in a sense, it’s like turning off the world for a year.”

To learn more, read this post by The New York Times.