Obama's climate guru: Paint your roof white!

[ensho]

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/obamas-climate-guru-paint-your-roof-white-1691209.html


-snip-

Steven Chu, the US Secretary of Energy and a Nobel prize-winning scientist, said yesterday that making roofs and pavements white or light-coloured would help to reduce global warming by both conserving energy and reflecting sunlight back into space. It would, he said, be the equivalent of taking all the cars in the world off the road for 11 years.

-snip-
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wow! so lets do it.

[KittyWampus]

1. Didn't someone invent Solar Paint? Wonder if it can come in white. I'd think sod roofs

would be even better though since it's sucking in CO2 and giving off O while providing green space for urban dwellers.

Maybe sod rooftops in cities and white photovoltaic roofs in suburbs and country? Or sod rooftops and white, solar paint for sides of house.

Here is paint-

The paint is made up of dye and electrolytes that can be applied as a paste to steel sheets. Four layers of paint are applied to each sheet. When light hits the solar cells, excited molecules release an electron into an electron collector and circuit (nanocrystalline titanium dioxide). Finally, the electrons move back into the dye.

Photovoltaic paint has a number of advantages over traditional solar cells. It doesn’t have the material limitations of silicon solar cells, so it theoretically provides many terawatts of electricity at a low cost. Additionally, the paint can absorb light across the visible spectrum— so even cloudy days will reap lots of energy.

According to steel company Corus Colours, the solar cells can achieve a power conversion efficiency of 11 percent.

Production of solar paint will begin soon— a lab built to develop the new technology is starting work on October 30 in North Wales. Ultimately, researchers at the PV Accelerator Laboratory in North Wales hope to develop a way to apply solar paint to steel at 30 to 40 square meters per second.

[ensho]

2. fantastic, thanks for the info

nt

[notadmblnd]

3. ok, so what do we do in the winter? Paint it black?

This article was posted here in length about a week ago. It stated then, that white roofs have the opposite effect in the winter and that would cause soaring heating costs at that particular time of the season. Also, you can not paint asphalt shingles, it voids the warranty and ruins the shingles.

Sometimes I wonder how people with no brains manage to get and keep a job.

[Buzz Clik]

6. When a Nobel Laureate appears to make a comment you find incredibly stupid, you need to dig in a bit...

Did Chu suggest that one should paint asphalt shingles white? Or is that simply where the paraphrasing has led us.

Take a look at the original quote:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090526/sc_afp/climatewarmingusbritainchu_20090526194647

[girl gone mad]

24. I worked with a Nobel Laureate for a while...

(Physics). While he was brilliant on paper, often his common sense - even in scientific matters - was lacking.

[Buzz Clik]

30. Fantastic. But that really isn't the issue here.

[Igel]

35. It's precisely the issue here.

Chu's Nobel is for work in using lasers to trap supercooled atoms.

Getting from that to your roof's albedo and your asphalt-shingle warranty is a bit of a stretch. Remember: Critical thinking is discipline-specific, just because you're a master in physics doesn't mean you have any more than a high-schooler's awareness about critical thinking in history. The same goes for a lot of other kinds of "thinking."

[Buzz Clik]

39. You've launched off on a tangent brought on by sloppy reporting.

He didn't suggest painting asphalt shingles, he suggested using light colored shingles. His suggestion about painting roofs white was in reference to flat roofs, not shingled ones.

And the bullshit in the post to which I responded about "soaring winter heating costs" is insane for two reasons: 1) The amount of heating by sunlight on a roof during winter is minimal. The lowest temperatures are at night when the sun isn't shining. Yes, there will be a small amount of energy saving during the winter by keeping a dark roof, but that leads to the next point: 2) No one ever said that reducing global warming would be without cost.

Yes, flawed logic is the issue here, but it doesn't belong to Chu.

[girl gone mad]

36. My point being that Nobel Prize winners aren't immune to flawed thinking.

It isn't a cloak of mental invincibility. Even Einstein made some flawed arguments in his lifetime.

[Buzz Clik]

38. Right. But when you repeat that he suggests painting asphalt shingles when he does not, ...

... then he is not guilty of flawed thinking. He's simply being misquoted.

[Buzz Clik]

31. ...

[kestrel91316]

16. Chu has not said that we should "paint" roofs white, but rather that we should

"make" them white. I realize that words are confusing to some because they have actual meanings, and sometimes multiple meanings that require you to read them IN CONTEXT.

Roofs made of lighter materials will reflect more heat (which we in some climates have no shortage of now, and will have even more in years to come) which will reduce cooling costs substantially.

If you think Chu doesn't understand that this is unnecessary in cold climates, you have got a lot to learn, and you ought to watch that needless snark.

[notadmblnd]

22. in a week the story has gone from paint your roof white to make your roof white.

Here is another snip from the Independent article. The word paint is right in there (notice the bold?) Now you're going to tell me he never said paint them white? Or, are you now going to tell me that those were the authors words and that the author should have choosen them more wisely?
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/obamas-climate-guru-paint-your-roof-white-1691209.html

"Some people believe that nuclear power is the answer to climate change, others have proposed green technologies such as wind or solar power, but Barack Obama's top man on global warming has suggested something far simpler – painting your roof white."

And here is another quote from a blog (probably RW)

And asked if governments should promote white paint as the global warming "solution," he said, "Yes, absolutely … White roofs everywhere, yes."
http://www.sodahead.com/blog/82649/the-stupidity-of-a-community-organizer/

Now he may have elaborated after the original posting and clarified when he realized that for many, painting a roof is not an option, however, the article does say paint. Here's a link to the google search and the several articles there that attribute Chu as saying to paint them.

http://www.google.com/search?q=steven+chu+%22painting+roof+white%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a


So tell me, what exactly is going to happen if I don't heed your warning and watch my needless snark?

edited to add the links

[Gman]

4. The RW ridiculed this when it first was news

but it really makes sense and would likely work to alleviate "heat islands".

[BlooInBloo]

18. Sounds like their idiotic whining over "properly inflating your tires".

[jmowreader]

5. Steven Chu is just pointing out what EnergyStar has always said

The EPA's EnergyStar program covers roofing too, and it's ALWAYS listed only white roofing materials. And the thing is, there are just so many different kinds of roofing you can get in white! Whether you like shingles, metal or rubber, there is a white roof for you.

Among the roofing systems available in white:

GAF: Marquis WeatherMax and Royal Sovereign three-tab and Timberline Prestique Cool Colors architectural shingles; Liberty self-adhering SBS sheet; Cool Roof commercial products (note: Timberline Prestique Cool Colors are available in colors besides white; all are EnergyStar certified)

Owens Corning: Duration Premium Cool shingles, Duration, Supreme and Classic shingles. (note: Duration Premium Cool shingles are available in certified colors besides white)

Any brand of mineral surfaced roll roofing is available in white.

[asjr]

7. Irving TX was doing that when I lived

there in 1960.

[Shagbark Hickory]

8. Painted roofs are shit and a waste of space. You should have green roofs instead with plants, OK?

[jmowreader]

15. Try doing that with a high-slope roof

I wouldn't want a flat roof in high-snow country, and all the green roofs I've seen in the media are flat.

Here's what I wonder: would it be feasible to put some kind of a heat collector--little water tanks, perhaps, all plumbed together--under a black asphalt roof? Direct the heat to a big rock bed for storage, then pull it back out during the winter months when you need heat.

[kestrel91316]

19. Chu never uses the word paint. That was put in by the OP who needs to

do a little less editorializing in his headlines.

[cherokeeprogressive]

27. Did you actually read the linked article? The word "paint" appears in the article SIX TIMES.

:shrug:

[shanejfilomena]

9. deflected radiation that could be taken avantage of...

I would have to agree the climate guru that lowering the buildings internal heat during summer months, but does not lower the energy cost of cooling the building to human comfort levels during temperatures above 70F.

The reason is that the reflected solar radiation is bounced back to the surface by the density of the atmosphere and increases the ambient surface temperatures AROUND the object.

My suggestion to the Universe is not to attempt to deflect the effects of nature upon nature, but to roll with the punch by making use of it's energy.

a typical Photoelectric panel would absorb a majority of the solar energy directed at it<img src="">

as for the color of your roof?.....depends on the color of your house...

[Individualist]

10. I'm sure people in Maine, Alaska, Minnesota

and other states that experience frigid temperatures during the winter are thrilled with that dumbass idea.

[Odin2005]

12. Nah, our roofs are covered with white snow in the winter, makes no difference!

:)

[kestrel91316]

20. And I am quite sure that Chu has suggested NO SUCH THING for cold

climates. Just as he has not said to "paint" existing roofs white. That was the OP's misinterpretation of what Chu suggests.

[lilyreally]

11. Interesting.

I live in the tropics and most everyone here buys light colored cars. They seem to stay cooler, not absorbing the sun's rays, or at least that is the theory.

[IntravenousDemilo]

13. But black cars, black cars look better in the shade. n/m

[Odin2005]

14. We should be putting photovoltaic and/or thermal solar power systems on roofs.

[kestrel91316]

21. For those without the money to install solar PV, light-colored shingles

to reflect heat are a wise step in the right direction that won't cost an arm and two legs.

[kestrel91316]

17. Please do show us where Chu says to "paint" existing roofs white.

You are giving trolls too much ammo with your misleading OP headline.

[Individualist]

29. Did you read the headline of the article which was linked?

Another example: "Dr Chu said the simple act of painting roofs white could have a dramatic impact on the amount of energy used to keep buildings comfortable, as well as directly offsetting global warming by increasing the reflectivity of the Earth."

As noted in post #27, there are several mentions of painting a roof white.

[ClarkUSA]

23. OP is wrong; Chu didn't say that. FYI, my roof is made of Energy Star Timberline white shingles...

Being green, I chose the color for exactly the reasons Chu is outlining. Our summer months' electric bills have dropped considerably since 2007 -- I'd estimate by as much as 80% -- because of the change in color from pale gray to white. The home looks better, too; the color white gives the roofline a clean and modern look.

Two years ago, it was impossible to find any store which carried white shingles. It took a special order by the contractor for us to get the shingles in. Now, I'm glad to say you can find white shingles in Lowe's and other stores and can order them online.

[merh]

25. I have the light grey metal roof

it does conserve energy.

[SoCalDem]

26. When we reroofed, we used a light colored shingle to cut costs

It works:)

[cherokeeprogressive]

28. Mildly off topic, but what is going to happen when we have hundreds of square miles of solar panels?

BLACK solar panels? Hundreds if not thousands of square miles of BLACK solar panels. That's gonna be hot.

So in that sense, Chu's idea is a good one; we'll need SOMETHING to offset that. His idea, however, is not new.

[NightWatcher]

32. put PV cells on your roof and disconnect from the power grid

or do what I am planning and sell the power company the electricity that you catch for free from the sun. I cant wait to get the Net Metering system up and running. Plus you get a tax break. Florida is paying people to put in a solar system on their house

[handmade34]

33. quote

“Art Rosenfeld is pushing very hard for geo-engineering that we all believe will be completely benign and that is when you have a flat-roofed building, make it white,” Chu said. “It’s the equivalent of reducing the carbon emissions due to all the cars in the world by 11 years.”

Steven Chu is a wise man.

[Hanse]

34. How often is this shit going to happen?

Obama points out that properly inflated tires could save millions of barrels of oil, and all the anti-Obama anti-science knee jerk dipshits come out of the woodwork to argue with it.

Same shit, different day.

[donco6]

37. Colorado requires all new schools be built to LEED standards.

Including white roofs.