COOLING THE PLANET ONE STREET AT A TIME™
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Surfaces protected with a solar reflective coating are significantly cooler, delay wear and weathering, and create a safer environment. In hot climates, our coatings create a cooler environment combatting the urban heat island effect. Pavement materials, with their relatively low reflectivity and high thermal capacity, tend to retain radiative energy in daytime and slowly release it back into the atmosphere at night. Paved surfaces, including roads, parking areas, courtyards, and sidewalks, cover a significant percentage of a variety of metropolitan areas. Compared to grassland, average surface temperature of pavements can reach more than 30ËšC (54ËšF) hotter. High temperatures of pavements can lead to increased energy consumption of nearby buildings, intensive outdoor discomfort, and reduction of pavement life and reliability.
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Arizona State University (ASU) researchers conducted studies with different types of pavements and coatings to test the different combinations. Researchers found that solar reflective coatings could reduce surface temperature up to 30%. These findings show that solar reflective coatings can significantly cool down all pavement surface and subsurface temperatures which can help:
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- Decrease energy consumption
- Decrease temperatures in certain outdoor areas
- Increase pavement life cycles
- Reduce maintenance costs
The use of Decocoat DP-200 IR Solar Reflective can contribute LEED® credits under the certain categories.