Recent News & Events

Fluorescent Ruby Red Roofs Stay as Cool as White

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Elementary school science teaches us that in the sun, dark colors get hot while white stays cool. Now new research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has found an exception: Scientists have determined that certain dark pigments

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Your Air Conditioning is Making the Heat Wave Worse

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

While air conditioning temporarily cools, it’s making our world hotter. According to Berkeley Lab researchers, a crash program to maintain or establish three shade trees per building and make all roofs and pavement in U.S. cities reflective could

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Residential air conditioning units

Join the cool roofing industry at the 2016 International Roof Coatings Conference

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Berkeley Lab is co-sponsoring the RCMA International Roof Coatings Conference. Join the cool roofing industry at the 2016 conference in Philadelphia this year. 

The event includes an exciting lineup of expert speakers and educational sessions,

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Registration is open for the 4th International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Islands

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Registration is now open for the Fourth International Conference on Countermeasure to Urban Heat Island (4th IC2UHI) 2016

Singapore on 30-31 May and 1 June 2016.

The theme of the conference: Countering Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Climate

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Cool Roofs in China Offer Enhanced Benefits During Heat Waves

Tuesday, December 22, 2015
New Berkeley Lab study uses regional climate model to compare heat waves to normal summer conditions.

It is well established that white roofs can help mitigate the urban heat island effect, reflecting the sun’s energy back into space and reducing a

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Guangzhou

New “Cool Roof Time Machine” Will Accelerate Cool Roof Deployment

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Standards body approves Berkeley Lab’s method to mimic natural soiling of roofing materials.

Cool roofs can help keep buildings cool, thus lowering the building’s energy use, while also mitigating the urban heat island effect by reflecting sunlight

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Sharon Chen sprays roofing material with soiling mixture.

HIG scientist, Ronnen Levinson, featured in new video describing cool roofs as one of the Lab's 8 Big Ideas

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Berkeley Lab scientists, including the Heat Island Group's Dr. Ronnen Levinson, each presented one of the Lab's 8 Big Ideas in front of a packed house in Oakland, CA on 8 October, 2014. His presentation, "Cool Roofs through Time and Space", featured 

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USA TODAY cites California's cool pavements bill (AB296) as leading example of nation's best climate preparedness

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

California has completed the highest number of goals to prepare for climate change, followed by Massachusetts and New York, according to a first-of-its-kind 50-state tracking tool unveiled Thursday.

In the last five years, there's been a burst

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HIG members use aerial imagery to map roof albedo across entire cities

Saturday, September 27, 2014

How cool is your roof? If you live in the California cities of Bakersfield, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or San Jose, you may be able to find out.

Scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (

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Ronnen Levinson discusses the new interactive rooftop reflectance map with Southern California Public Radio listeners

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Ronnen Levinson, Heat Island Group leader and staff scientist, was recently interviewed by Southern California Public Radio to discuss the new interactive rooftop reflectance map for California cities. 

You can view the article and listen to the

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