Green Roof Albedo

One of the more recent advancements in the field of green commercial construction are what are known as cool or albedo roofs.

Green roof albedo.

Sustainable roofing glossary albedo. They have a positive impact on temperature both within the building and outside as well as improving air quality. The new concrete is a whitish gray color that is able to reflect sunlight and keep not only the roads cooler but also the adjacent buildings. Rooftop gardens and green roof systems such as the stormcap create a buffer preventing heat from entering the building.

The city of chicago has also attempted to make a change by creating a network of green alleyways by removing the former dark pavement and replacing it with albedo concrete. Ultimately the albedo of a green roof is about twice higher than the albedos found for dark roofing surfaces. One way to increase the albedo of a roof is to plant vegetation. 2006 also made a comparison of temperatures of the subsurface the conventional rooftop level and the green roof surface.

Albedo or solar reflectance is a measure of a material s ability to reflect sunlight including the visible infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths on a scale of 0 to 1 an albedo of 0 0 indicates that the surface absorbs all solar radiation and an albedo of 1 0 represents total reflectivity.