Walmart white roof, Las Vegas
Think Progress is reporting that this week the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a building code update that will require all new and refurbished homes to have cool roofs, which use sunlight-reflecting materials. Los Angeles is the first major city to require such a measure. The resolution was pushed by
Climate Resolve, a local organization which works throughout Southern California to prepare the region for the impacts of climate change.
According to the Climate Resolve press release, cool roofs, “can be more than 50°F cooler on the surface of the roof during a hot summer day and can cool the interiors of buildings by several degrees Fahrenheit, reducing chances of heat-related injuries or deaths.”
“Cool roofs are a win-win-win for the people of Los Angeles,” said Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director of Climate Resolve. “Keeping temperatures down on Extreme Heat Days will protect lives; energy efficiency will save millions of dollars; and cool roofs will help Los Angeles combat global climate change at the local level.”
Former president Bill Clinton is a
major advocate of cool roofs. Recently he wrote: “Every black roof in New York should be white; every roof in Chicago should be white; every roof in Little Rock should be white. Every flat tar-surface roof anywhere! In most of these places you could recover the cost of the paint and the labor in a week.”
If you're planning to refurbish or build a new residential or commercial structure you might check beforehand for any available Federal Tax Incentives for Energy Efficiency.