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Walk outside into 100-degree heat wearing a black shirt, and you’ll feel a whole lot hotter than if you were wearing white. Now think about your roof: If it’s also dark, it’s soaking up more of the sun’s energy and radiating that heat indoors. If it were a lighter color, it’d be like your home was wearing a giant white shirt all the time.

This is the idea behind the “cool roof.” Last month, Atlanta joined a growing number of American cities requiring that new roofs be more reflective. That significantly reduces temperatures not just in a building, but in the surrounding urban environment. “I really wanted to be able to approach climate change in the city of Atlanta with a diversity of tactics,” said City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari, who authored the bill, “because it’s far easier to change a local climate than it is a global one.”

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[-] Addv4@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

Grass roofs have been around for ages, but they require a lot of structural planning to deal with weight, water, and when they inevitably have to be replaced, they are more of a hassle. Whereas paint probably just needs to be repainted, or reflective metal roofs last longer while not being too hard to fix (need a radiant barrier, but still easier to work on).

this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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Solarpunk Urbanism

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