Bill Clinton Urges Americans to Paint Dark Roofs White

July 26th, 2011 by Shannon Soesbe

White roof and skylights on Walmart's Las Vegas store

Bill Clinton may no longer be President, but he still has plenty of ideas on how to address the fact that 14 million people are out of work across America. Newsweek recently published an article by Mr. Clinton wherein he suggested 14 different ways of increasing jobs throughout the country.

With an overall heavy emphasis on energy sector job opportunities, his eighth proposed solution was to paint the black roofs of every city across America a bright white. Painting roofs white in order to reduce energy consumption is hardly a new concept, but adding his name to the list of those who endorse the idea is sure to give it a boost.

He suggested that the work of painting the roofs would provide employment and skill training for young workers. According to Mr. Clinton, “A big percentage of the kids have been able to parlay this simple work into higher-skilled training programs or energy-related retrofit jobs. (And, believe it or not, painting the roof white can lower the electricity use by 20 percent on a hot day!)”

He’s absolutely correct about the benefits of painting black roofs white. Solar-reflective white paint deflects 90% of sunlight, contrary to the 20% reflected by a traditional black tar roof. This results in a significant temperature drop within a building, creating a reduced need for air conditioning and considerable energy savings. White roofs also reduce the “urban heat island” effect in which temperatures are higher in dense urban areas because of the number of black tar surfaces. New York City is approximately 5 degrees warmer than the surrounding suburbs as a result of this effect.

Painting dark roofs white is a simple idea with potentially huge benefits, both environmental and economical. Hats off to former President Clinton for bringing it to the attention of a wider audience.

About the Author

Shannon Soesbe

Pingback: Paint it White and Stay Cooler | CleanTechnica
Pingback: White Roofs Not Good for Climate, Increase Global Warming (Shocker!) | CleanTechnica
Taisto Leinonen

A further cooling trick from Finland:

Our house is a 1.5-story house + cellar. During the winter we run our central heating system by an oil-fired boiler. In the summer, when the hottest days in Helsinki may be 30 oC, we let the water circulate in the radiators while the oil burner has been switched off for several summer months.

Hot water for dishwashing is taken from a small electric boiler. If the circulating pump of the central heating system is stopped, tap water running through a copper pipe coil in the boiler in the cellar cools the boiler to 15 oC.
However, the circulating water running through the radiators heats in the interior up to 23 oC, when the room temperature is 25-26 oC and outside temp about 30 oC. Thus when the circulating water returns to the boiler, we get from the boiler coil lukewarm water at 23 oC from the warm side of the faucet. Quite suitable for washing hands. And the rooms cool down a few degrees only having the 100 W circulating pump running.

This proves that if a small-capacity heat pump would be included in the central heating system, large radiators would in the summertime keep the interior temp at a tolerable level at a minimal cost.

By the way, we also have our house surrounded by large birches that with their enormous evaporation capacity and large foliage contribute to our comfort.

Taisto Leinonen, M.Sc.
Helsinki, Finland
- Anonymous
  
  Nice tips. Thank You
Scott

Good white roof coatings, not paint, are very well designed for proper performance and deserve a premium. The problem is there are many companies manufacturing cheap white paint, roofing companies are buying them, putting them down with in-experienced cheap laborers, and when the roof turns brown in 2 months everyone begins to complain about “white” roofs that really aren’t white.
Steve26

Makes sense for some climate zones, but in many regions of the country there are more “heating” than “cooling” days. This is a much more complex topic than the article suggests. Plus, the idea of simply “painting roofs white” is a recipe for disaster. Applying white roof membranes is logical when highly reflective roofs are geographically appropriate, but simply slopping down some paint is likely to damage the integrity of the roof during the application.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Marshall-Ryerson/1022559878 Marshall Ryerson

Contact for turning black roofs white is
Oakland Metals 248-377-8847
They have coatings that will work on all smooth surface black roofs.
- Anonymous
  
  Thanks!
Keeping the rain out

Politicians spouting off anything to catch a popular theory. I my 90% heating rainy climate the white turns black pretty quick and the sun we get keeps the furnace from kicking in. Mr.Bill should qualify his statement to the appropriate southern climates
roofer

Working on roofs is simple work, Mr. clinton? How much of that type of work have you done?

from a Simple Midwest Roofer
SaS

I’m all for it in FL. Bring on the paint.
BTW – what are the ages of the kids we’ll be hiring to paint these roofs?