Cool Roofs
A collaborative effort between The Department of Buildings, New York City Service, Con Edison and the City University of New York announce a program that they hope will reduce cooling costs, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. The program, called NYC Cool Roofs, plans to complete these objectives by applying reflective, white coating to rooftops in the Big Apple.
A partnership including both public and private organizations, non-profits, and business owners is a component of New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg’s sustainability initiative, nicknamed PlaNYC , has the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 30% by the year 2030.
This week saw the plan put into action on the roof of LaGuardia Community College. Department of Building volunteers along with NYC Service volunteers coated the 46,000 sq ft roof with white roofing. This will be the first of many buildings in the city that will have their traditional dark roofing replaced with more reflective white roofing. The other buildings that will take part in this experimental greening (or “whiting”) will be in areas of the city that tend to see higher than average temperatures in the summer.
Con Edison, through its partnership with the city of New York, agreed to take part in this process. They plan to replace 156,000 sq ft of traditional dark roofing on its buildings list of online casinos across the city with new white roofing. Going beyond their own properties, Con Edison has offered to replace roofing on a city YMCA building, as well as offering incentives to homeowners who participate in the NYC Cool Roofs program.
Identifying nearly 100,000 sq ft of rooftop to be coated, The New York City Housing Authority plans to get involved as well. The Police Department’s 40th Precinct in the Bronx and the Department of Homeless Services in Brooklyn have been added to the list.
DCAS Commissioner Martha K. Hirst explains, “There’s nothing like being cool and smart. And by Coating nearly a quarter million square feet of city-owned roofs, we will be both. We will continue to lead by example in this area, as we identify additional locations where a cool roof coating is not only good for the environment, but cost effective as well.”
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