New “Cooler” Roofing Material

The remodeling industry may have just uncovered a game changer . Researchers from the Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney have created a roofing material that can stay cooler than the ambient air temperature. This new “cooler roofing material stood the test even at the peak temperatures of the Australian summer.

The new “cooler” roofing material presents two possible major benefits. First, it can tremendously reduce cooling costs. Secondly, in a “green friendly” analysis, the environmental impact of air-conditioning is severely lessened. The roofing material only absorbs 3 percent of sunlight; as it is made from stacked polymers on top of a thin silver film. Further, the roofing material also radiates heat out at specific infrared wavelengths that aren’t absorbed by the atmosphere which presents it the opportunity to beam the heat directly into space.

Scientists have been working for years to create increasingly more heat-repellant materials to cover homes with, but they’ve struggled to find anything that approaches 100 percent solar reflectance.

“This new surface, however, stayed 11 degrees or more colder than an existing state-of-the-art white roof nearby,” said Geoff Smith, one of the lead researchers.

Perhaps most promising, the materials used to create the new roofing are already commercially available, and so far seem to be suited to creating basic roofing, which means they could easily be integrated by the construction industry.

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