Obama's green guru calls for white roofs

[Antibubba]

President Obama's energy adviser has suggested all the world's roofs should be painted white as part of efforts to slow global warming.

Given that many poorer countries don't have the health and safety laws that the First World does (or lacks enforcement), I can see where many people will seek to make the requirement as cheaply as possible, using locally-made white paint, which is inexpensively made using lead oxide.

How many millions of children will be killed or made retarded?  How long will the soil, contaminated by runoff, be unsafe production?  We are talking about billions of roofs.

[MicroBalrog]

OBVIOUSLY we need houses that can change their roofs' color from white to black: white in summer, black in winter.

That's... exactly how my family does it, AFAIK.

[zahc]

This is all so racist.

[Iain]

This is all so racist.

Because black people absorb more solar radiation thus lessening the earths albedo - Oh. My. God. The racist roots of the green movement exposed. Green on the outside. Racist to the core.

[K Frame]

KNOCK

IT

OFF.

[mfree]

The science I can get behind... in fact, the standing-seam metal roof I had put on a few months ago is the lightest shade of grey offered (white wasn't).

Making people do it? No go. No way. My roof may suddenly turn flat black overnight if it's a matter of spiting these people, even if changing from asphalt to this at least appears to be saving me ~$10 a month in electricity.

[AJ Dual]

Wouldn't asphault shingles need to be replaced?  I didn't think they could be painted. 

Most roads in my town are already "concrete" type color.  It is mainly the smaller farm roads and such that are asphalt.  Few of those are truly black.

It wouldn't last very long. The little granular stones come off easy enough as it is, such paint would have to be very heavy, very tough, and very thick, otherwise it would just peel and flake within a season I'd guess.

And darn at not being in before Mike's slapdown. I had such a good one... 

[K Frame]

"And darn at not being in before Mike's slapdown. I had such a good one..."

A good one for what? Potentially getting yourself banned?


And the LAST thing you want to do is paint asphalt shingles. In a hot, sunny climate they would likely curl and fail dramatically with in a few years.

And, if they're covered with some sort of elastomeric paint, it's doubtful that they could be recycled...

[MicroBalrog]

In Israel, what we do is tar the roofl at the onset of 'winter' and introduce pale-grey shingles in the summer. At least a lot of people do that. Not sure if our particular building does it.

[Firethorn]

IIRC, even the buildings on Bush's ranch in Crawford have white roofs.

Bush's house is a model of energy efficiency for practical reasons.  Beats Al Gore's homes all to heck.

And the LAST thing you want to do is paint asphalt shingles. In a hot, sunny climate they would likely curl and fail dramatically with in a few years.

You can recycle just about anything with enough effort, but wouldn't it be cheaper and longer lasting to simply get the shingles in the lighter color in the first place?  Probably make them last longer in those hot climates as well.

Oh, and Micro, wouldn't reshingling every year be a lot of effort?

[KD5NRH]

Not sure where the deviation in reality is, the house behind me has a partially white painted roof, and it is blinding on a sunny day.  Are you thinking flat roof?  I'm talking high angled roof.

There are very few flat roofs here.  (Odd, considering the number of mediterranean-influenced buildings.)

Given the fire hazards, hail and windstorms, and the cost of air conditioning on triple-digit days with humidity levels that almost allow goldfish to go for a walk, metal roofs are a big selling point.  White-painted metal is not as common as bare, but not unusual.  IME, the bare metal is far more cost effective, since the paint doesn't seem to extend the life, and makes it less reflective.

[MicroBalrog]

Oh, and Micro, wouldn't reshingling every year be a lot of effort?

Well, it's not like we personally go out onto the roof and do it. The way it's done is that, traditionally, a single homeowner in the buidling is chosen to be in charge of fixing the roof, cleaning the stairs, and all the other things that affect the building at large, and the other flat-dwellers give him money to take care of it.

Among these is hiring a professional to come and re-cover the roof twice a year. Admittedly some people use some form of all-weather cover that needs to be replaced much more rarely.