A Cool New Pavement

That's cool as in the temperature. Some studies say dark pavement surfaces can be a contributing factor to the formation of urban heat because the dark surface absorbs and stores heat. The EPA uses the term "Cool Pavement" to describe a surface coating that reduces the pavement's surface heat. One such cool pavement is the newly introduced Solar Reflective Cool Pavement from manufacturer Emerald Cities. According to Emerald Cities' website, this cool concrete is a "nano-engineered high performance thin concrete for application on parking lots, cross walks, school yards and decorative public surfaces." This cool pavement is available in a variety of colors, meaning roads, parking lots and other pavement surfaces can be more colors than the typical black. To help promote cool pavements across the country, Emerald Cities and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have introduced a 100 Cities "Cool Pavement" Initiative. The first city participating is Phoenix. A 90,000-square-foot temporary parking lot in downtown Phoenix received a Celadon Green solar reflective coating at the end of May 2011.  According to Emerald Cities, cities that participate in the initiative will receive: training of local contractors for green jobs specialized "Cool Pavement" equipment complimentary monitoring and measuring equipment DOE/LBNL Seminar and Educational Materials full publicity and media coverage project video aerial photos of finished "Cool Pavement" project City status within the 100 Cities "Cool Pavement" Initiative Cities interested in participating in the initiative can request an application at [email protected]