Un Tetto Bianco per Risparmiare

Un Tetto Bianco per Risparmiare

White roof tiles reduce pollution

The proposal to paint house roofs white to improve energy efficiency and counteract the urban heat island effect is appealing for its simplicity and potential positive impact on the environment. Many experts have pointed out that this solution can lead to significant energy savings and reductions in CO2 emissions, thus contributing to the fight against climate change.

The benefits of adopting white roofs are manifold. Firstly, they reduce the energy needs of the buildings below for air conditioning, allowing residents to save on energy costs. This translates into lower emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, helping to improve air quality and mitigate the environmental impact of using fossil fuels for heating and cooling buildings.

In addition, white roofs have a sunlight-reflecting effect, known as the albedo effect, which prevents heat from being absorbed by the earth. This helps reduce the heat island effect in urban areas, where temperatures can be significantly higher than in surrounding areas due to the absorption of heat by dark surfaces such as asphalt and traditional roofs.

Large-scale implementation of this solution could lead to a relative cooling of the earth's temperature, helping to mitigate the effects of global warming. Interestingly, the adoption of white roofs has been promoted and adopted in various parts of the world, demonstrating its potential as an effective and affordable strategy to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Building codes requiring the use of white roofs can play a crucial role in the spread of this practice, encouraging building owners to adopt more sustainable solutions and thus helping to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The implementation of a white roof can reduce the roof surface temperature by up to 30°C during the hottest months, translating into a decrease in energy consumption for indoor air conditioning of 20-70%. These numbers not only attest to the effectiveness of such solutions in combating excess urban heat, but also offer a measurable economic return over time.Indeed, optimising the building's thermal insulation further contributes to the reduction of energy consumption. The results show that if every roof were completely painted white, a 33 per cent reduction in heat could be achieved, with an average temperature drop of 0.7 degrees Celsius. The effect would be more pronounced during the day and during the summer seasons. White roofs would also have the advantage of lowering temperatures inside homes and, consequently, the use of air conditioning.