HIG researchers uncover potential for cool roofs in Chinese cities

After three years of collaborative investigation, Ronnen Levinson and Jing Ge of LBNL's Heat Island Group co-authored a paper with Chinese researchers titled, "Cool roofs in China: Policy review, building simulations, and proof-of-concept experiments." Their work characterizes the potential for heat island mitigation, energy use, energy cost, and ambient air quality as a result of replacing dark gray roofs with aged white roofs in seven Chinese cities. Simulations and experiments yielded positive results for white roofs in the four hot-summer cities, leading the authors to conclude that cool roofs should be credited or required in building energy efficiency standards for all hot-summer climates in China.

See the HIG Publications entry, with a link to the full-text article, here.