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Laboratory Testing Of The Reflectance Properties Of Roofing Materials, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Past simulation and test cell studies have shown potential reduction to building cooling loads from higher exterior surface solar reflectances (Givoni and Hoffman, 1968; Givoni, 1976; Chuan and Busching, 1983; Griggs and Shipp, 1988; Anderson, 1989; Akbari et al., 1990; Chandra and Moalla, 1991; Bansal et al., 1992). Furthermore, simulation analysis of macro-climatic effects have shown that light colored surfaces may reduce the magnitude of the urban heat island (Taha et al., 1988; Akbari et al, 1989; Akbari et al., 1992).

Figure 1 shows a graphic illustration of the potential influence of surface reflectance on roof solar heat gain. The …