Recent News & Events

New Heat Island Group research compares economics of white, green, and black flat roofs in the United States

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Looking strictly at the economic costs and benefits of three different roof types—black, white and "green" (or vegetated)—Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers have found in a new study that white roofs are the most cost-

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The Heat Island Group begins the year with two new publications

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Two new papers to be published in early 2014 showcase recent Heat Island Group research efforts to improve the measurement and prediction of roofing albedo.

A 13-author study titled "Soiling of building envelope surfaces and its effect on solar

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Cooling Los Angeles, from the roof down (A|N blog)

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

What's the coolest place in Los Angeles? It may be right over your head. Starting in 2014, thanks to an update of the Municipal Building Code, all new or refurbished buildings will be equipped with "cool roofs." A cool roof is built of reflective

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IEA's Technology Roadmap for Energy Efficient Building Envelopes features cool roofing

Monday, December 16, 2013

Overview

The building envelope – also known as the building shell, fabric or enclosure – is the boundary between the conditioned interior of a building and the outdoors. The energy performance of building envelope components, including external

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Heat Island Group scientist Ronnen Levinson quoted in Ensia article on cool roofs

Saturday, December 14, 2013

See below for a link to "Cool Roofs Rising" from Ensia, an online magazine from the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota.

Submit your abstract for the 3rd International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Islands (IC2UHI) in Venice, Italy - deadline: January 31, 2014

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

In October 2014, the Heat Island Group will be hosting the 3rd International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Islands (IC2UHI). The conference will be held in Venice, Italy from October 13-15, 2014 with the support of our colleagues at

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Global Cool Cities Alliance's Shickman discusses cool roofs in Baltimore on NPR's "Midday" show

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

According to the latest Abell Foundation report, cool roofs are becoming the hot new trend in sustainable architecture nationwide. These roofs are designed to reflect the sun’s rays and limit heat absorption. And environmentalists are looking at the

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Hotter Summers Mean More Health Risks In Urban Heat Islands

Sunday, September 29, 2013

PORTLAND – On hot summer days, 74-year-old HelenRuth Stephens doesn't dare leave her apartment. Not to get the mail or take out the trash.

"You don't do it because you'll be breathless by the time you get back," she says.

She suffers from

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Heat Island Group's Ben Mandel talks cool pavements on Australia's "Beyond Zero" radio show

Monday, September 23, 2013

The Heat Island Group's Ben Mandel spoke with Australian radio show Beyond Zero, hosted by Matt Grantham and co-hosted by Chris Jensen (University of Melbourne), about the benefits of cool pavements and LBNL's work to promote cool schoolyards.

Valley air officials aim to cool down decades-old smog problem

Thursday, August 15, 2013

In sweltering September 2011, Fresno could have used more trees. Temperatures climbed, winds died and lung-searing ozone spiked the season's highest readings on three days.

Worse yet, all three peaks broke the one-hour federal ozone standard

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