A lot of effort is going into reducing greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming and climate change. We should also take the other tack against global warming — focusing on reducing the warming side of the equation.
No matter where you live you can join this effort to cool our planet.
There are a variety of cool roof shingles, paints, and other techniques that can be used to make a “cool roof.” If you are installing a new roof, cool roof materials are no more expensive than conventional roofing materials. And an existing asphalt shingle roof can be made “cool” by painting it with special reflective paint that contains tiny aluminum particles. The cost of painting an existing roof is much less than putting on a new roof, and it extends the life of the roof to boot!
Why Are Cool Roofs Important?
Anthropogenic ("caused-by-humans") global warming has two aspects. One is the so-called "greenhouse effect," in which the atmosphere traps heat instead of letting it flow out into outer space. Human production of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases has significantly increased the greenhouse effect on Earth.
However, there is also the question of the heat that is trapped by the greenhouse gases - where is it coming from? Much of this heat is caused naturally, by the sun shining on the surface of the earth, on vegetation, and the oceans, where visible light is converted to heat energy.
This has been going on for millenia, of course. But humans have changed the amount of heat generated in this way, by putting lots of dark material - such as roofs, parking lots, roads, and other structures - on the surface of the earth. In fact, some analyses suggest that the contribution of this warming each year is the equivalent to the emissions from world’s approximately 600 million cars road for 18 years!
According to (which summarizes a ), of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the California Energy Commission, 1,000 square feet of white or very light roof (about half of a normal-sized house in Menlo Park) offsets about 10 tons of CO2 emissions over its lifetime. In comparison, 10 tons of CO2 is approximately the yearly emissions from a typical house in the U.S, and the average car emits about 4 tons of CO2 in a year. So, painting your whole roof white or very light would offset one year of both your house's and your car's greenhouse gas emissions. And keep you cooler in the summer and lower your air conditioning bill!
History of the Bay Area Cool Project
The launched the “Bay Area Cool” project in October, 2009, as part of a worldwide day of climate change activism driven by . Menlo Park joined more than 3,000 communities in over 150 countries as part of a global day of action coordinated by 350.org [http://www.350.org/] to urge world leaders to take immediate steps to address climate change and reduce carbon emissions. Leading climate scientists, concerned about runaway global warming, believe that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere must be reduced to below 350 parts per million (ppm) for the climate conditions to be stable and most conducive to human life. The current level is 387 ppm, and is steadily rising.
The Bay Area Cool campaign has a target of converting 35 homes in Menlo Park, California, to cool roofs by November 1, 2010. This will result in the mitigation of more than 350 tons of CO2, or the equivalent of taking nearly 100 cars off the road for a year.
In Menlo Park, the campaign will conduct outreach and educational efforts focused on schools, buildings, businesses, communities of faith, and neighborhoods. Students from Menlo Atherton High School are already involved through their Leadership Council. In addition, the Menlo Park Green Ribbon Citizens Committee expects to provide guidance to the Menlo Park City Council on the relationship of cool roofs to the city’s Menlo Park Climate Action Plan.
We call the campaign Bay Area Cool because our intention is to spread awareness of the importance of cool roofs and other ways of lowering the amount of heat that human activities put into the Earth’s atmosphere. Several Bay area cities have already begun working on similar efforts.
About the Menlo Park Green Ribbon Citizens' Committee
The advocates, inspires, and supports action among the residents, businesses, and institutions of Menlo Park, California to reduce its climate change footprint. A primary focus of the group is to help the city reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. But wherever you live, you can help reduce global warming by promoting cool roofs and other heat- and light-reflecting measures.