2y ago

Ultra-white ceramic cools buildings with record-high 99.6% reflectivity

newatlas.com Ultra-white ceramic cools buildings with record-high 99.6% reflectivity

Scientists in Hong Kong have demonstrated a new ultra-white ceramic material that can drastically cool buildings by reflecting sunlight and heat at record highs. The beetle-inspired material gets its ability from its nanostructure, stays tough to the elements and should be relatively easy to scale…

Ultra-white ceramic cools buildings with record-high 99.6% reflectivity::undefined

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Ultra-white ceramic cools buildings with record-high 99.6% reflectivity

newatlas.com /materials/ultra-white-ceramic-cools-buildings-record-high-reflectivity/

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You know what also cools houses down super efficiently?
Trees
- Excellent - how many trees can I grow on my roof? Can they be retrofitted?
  /s
  
  Trees? Not many. Grasses, herbs, wildflowers, and shrubs? Tons of them. And you can pretty easily retrofit over an existing sloped roof. And the weight is no more than a tiled roof.
  
  Wetness could pose a problem to the structure
  
  Not if you use a waterproof base layer. This isn't some theoretical thing, its tried and tested technology in common use
  
  Well of course you'd use waterproof base layer, typically you'd use several even without the plants. It's tried and tested with multiple cases of failing with age. That's the issue. Even just flat roofs have been a failure point even without the plants but soil and plants are a definite concern for builders when talking long term.
  
  Are you a builder? Do you have any experience installing and maintaining green roofs? Your assertion than you'd typically use several waterproofing layers suggests not. I have experience building these systems in the real world and the documentation to support their use. BTW - flat roofs aren't a thing. Expect in traditional building in desert areas. "Flat" roofs aren't flat.
  
  I'm a construction engineer, though I think that's just civil engineer in lot of the world.
  BTW - flat roofs aren't a thing. Expect in traditional building in desert areas. "Flat" roofs aren't flat.
  I assumed everyone knew what I meant. See some apartment building roofs.
  
  Kind of
  There are eco apartments (planning idk about practice); grass on the roof and trees growing up the side
  Lakehead University Orillia was going to do this for a new building but I don’t know what happened
- You know what cools roofs and generates electricity? Magic!
  Another trick: bifacial panels oriented to pick up the reflected light from highly reflective roofs
- What about Ultra white ceramic trees?
- True though this is still practical for folks who live in deserts and other treeless places
- They also dampen noise
- but trees look gross

85 comments