Businesses and communities in France are painting roofs and buildings white, a quick fix to combat the heat, but something experts say is no miracle.
By reflecting solar radiation, light colors prevent heat storage in the building envelope and advocates of this solution readily cite, as ancient examples, the famous white villages of the Cyclades or Andalusia.
Christine Leconte, President of the National Council of the Order, explained to Agence France-Presse, “This is one of the solutions recommended today, because it allows responding to the effect of solar radiation on surfaces that will reflect this radiation instead of trapping heat.” (AFP) For Architects.
He added: “There is no single solution to reduce heat in the city.”
Christine Leconte pointed out that to respond to the impact of the heat wave on buildings, there must be a range of solutions that adapt to different contexts. For housing, the most important measures are protecting windows from solar radiation, rethinking urban planning more broadly, and creating more green spaces in the city.
Surfaces as “auxiliary tools”
“We are not making the white roof a miracle solution, but we are starting to integrate it into our public policies,” said Margot Bellaire, urban planning assistant at the city council of Grenoble (south-east), a city run by environmentalists.
The white roof solution is particularly popular in office buildings, explains Arthur Gilardi, sales director at ARKsolutions, an SME in Toulouse, southwest France.
He stressed: “We have people who need rest because they are no longer able to work in their places and they do not have an air conditioning system.”
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Savings on air conditioning
“The second reason is energy saving. While cooling the building, less air conditioning is used. Air conditioning can be saved by 40%,” emphasized Arthur Gilardi.
Working on larger buildings also allows you to be more efficient, says Julien Martin Kocher, deputy general manager of Cool Roof France, a leading reflective painting company.
“To build 10,000 square metres, the equivalent of the Stade de France, in a commercial area, it would take a week. If you did it in 100 houses of 100 square metres, it would take three months.” pointed out.
Guillaume Payne
Questions about using white paint
However, there are still doubts about the effectiveness of these paints that were developed for their refreshing effect, stresses Stefan Hamori, Operational Director of the Scientific and Technical Center for Building (CSTB).
“This has not been fully demonstrated today with the expected scientific strength,” he warned. He added that there is also “the issue of sustainability of these systems” which must remain white to be able to perform their function.
Finally, using white paint on facades or roofs can be unsightly due to its blinding effects.
