Reasons why cool roofs are the ‘new cool’

by Ankita Sehgal Freelance Blogger, Lives in New Delhi

Amidst all the chaos and the unending lockdown, if there is one thing that is going to keep rising, it’s likely the temperature. Owing to factors such as lopsided development and global warming, the urban areas are sizzling under the scorching heat. Although people’s response to this has consistently been to invest in air-conditioners and coolers, urban planners are now looking towards a more sustainable concept in the long run - cool roofs.

Cool roofs are designed in such a way that instead of absorbing the light, they reflect it, unlike in the case of most roofs in conventional concrete houses. Spending upon the quality of the material you choose, cool roofs can help reduce the temperature inside the home by 2 to 5-degree centigrade, offering a simple yet effective shield from the extreme heat outside.

Typically, cooling sheets for roof prices begin at Rs. 379 on the website of Jindal South West. It could be a well-made tarpaulin sheet, a lime-based paint, a tiled rooftop, or even a mosaic tile that reflects the light right back into the atmosphere.

Climate change mitigation

When you opt for cool roofs, the greenhouse gas emissions are directly reduced by conserving electricity for air conditioning, therefore, emitting a considerably lower the amount of Carbon dioxide from power plants. Cool roofs simply reflect the sun’s energy as light back to the atmosphere, thereby mitigating global warming to a great extent.

Reduced smog

Cool roofs help in mitigating the urban heat by indirectly contributing to conserving electricity and other important resources, thereby improving air quality. Smog is usually created by photochemical reactions of air pollutants which increase at higher temperatures. So, by reducing the air temperature, cool roofs also lessen the rate of smog formation.

Public health benefits

Cool roofs are produced by some of the largest steel producers in India like the JSW Group. These subsequently, improve the air quality and also lower ambient air temperature which results in a reduction of heat and smog-related health problems such as heat strokes or asthma.

Energy efficient

Considering the fact that cool roofs reduce the use of air-conditioning during the hottest parts of the day, the energy savings associated mostly occur when the demand for electricity is at its very peak. This quite evidently points out that cool roofs reduce the stress on the energy grid especially during the hot summer months and also helps avoid shortages that may be caused due to hassled, unprecedented blackouts.

Places can be potentially warmer than surrounding areas due to dark materials, including roofs, which usually absorb the sun’s energy as heat during the day and release it at night as heat. Due to this, the air is not allowed to cool down at night which results in even higher temperatures being maintained for longer periods.

However, by immediately reflecting the solar radiation back into the atmosphere and re-emitting some parts of it as infrared light, cool roofs more often than not, result in cooler air temperatures even during hot summer months.