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Researchers, government agencies, and roofing manufacturers from around the world gathered in Berkeley last month (July 28-29, 2011) to discuss the latest research on cool roofs. These solar reflective materials reduce energy use, and help cool the planet by reflecting sunlight to outer space. Their use has begun to soar in markets around the world thanks to their economic and environmental benefits.
The International Workshop on Advances in Cool Roof Research was organized by the Heat Island Group of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), and by representatives of Concordia University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
One focus of the workshop was understanding how roof materials age, including how quickly their ability to reflect sunlight changes, and how to best simulate this natural aging with accelerated laboratory processes under development at Berkeley Lab and at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Currently, the solar reflectance of a cool roof is rated after three-year of natural exposure in three different US climate zones, as required by the U.S. Cool Roof Rating Council. Developing accelerated aging test protocols is important to expedite the introduction of new cool roof products to market.
Meeting attendees also discussed how to incorporate cool roof requirements in building codes, and how to develop internationally recognized standard for natural and accelerated aging of roofing materials.
Read the rest: http://eetd.lbl.gov/news-archives/news-cool-roofs.html
