Engineering Commons^™

Demonstration Of Cooling Savings Of Light Colored Roof Surfacing In Florida Commercial Buildings: Our Savior's School, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Architects and designers have long known that light-colored building roofs can reduce cooling needs. Recently, monitoring studies in Florida have made an effort to quantify these savings. Experiments in existing residences have shown that a white reflective roof can reduce cooling requirements by an average of 20%. However, until now there has been no investigation in Florida's climate to examine the potential in commercial scale buildings.

To remedy this need, a two year study was performed on a private elementary school building in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Our Savior's Elementary School was monitored for an entire year in a base line …

Monitored Energy Use Patterns In Low-Income Housing In A Hot And Humid Climate, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) is metering energy use in two Habitat for Humanity developments. The objective is to understand how energy is used in low income housing and how it can be effectively reduced. The ten "control homes" come from a conventional housing project built by in 1993 Habitat for Humanity in Homestead, Florida. Another ten "experimental homes" have been recruited from the 190 home Jordan Commons development in the same vicinity. These houses, which are soon to be metered, are designed to be energy efficient with high SEER air conditioners, reflective roofing, solar water heaters and energy …