Future weather/water issues?

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

I know in Los Angeles they have a company that is using some kind of special white paint on the roads that take 15 degrees off right at the touch. So not as good as that one but still some kind of improvement over black asphalt.

Of course a better solution to this scenario would be something that is not black that replaces asphalt entirely. Instead of coating it with two layers of white paint that needs to be redone every 7 years at $40k/mile.

The tops of roofs on buildings should also have reflective cooler surfaces or solar panels at least. Solar panels at least do something productive despite not being reflective. Do that and the roads and we will see quite a bit of difference.



Yes this of course. We have to look at the long-term and prepare by taking precautions right now before its too late. Not severe precautions but... some at least.

Prickly Pear, while I also dislike dark colored asphalt and so forth in this climate due to the UHI, it's not like universities and scientists aren't aware of these problems and trying to find alternatives. CA, for example, has done a ton of research on cool pavements and other ways to decrease the UHI. You can do google searches and find the research papers. Also re: asphalt: was coating all of our nice light colored concrete freeways with darker colored rubberized asphalt really worth it (in terms of noise and money spent?) I'm sure a lot of pockets were lined with that one

Also, give the City of Phoenix some credit. They've had a big (and successful) white roof campaign, encouraging owners of warehouses and industrial buildings to paint their roofs white, not only to save electricity, but also to help with the UHI issue. That said, I am a little disappointed that there aren't more suburban homes with white tile roofs instead of the dark color tiles you often see--it makes no sense to me, but builders follow what the market demands.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by DougStark

Prickly Pear, while I also dislike dark colored asphalt and so forth in this climate due to the UHI, it's not like universities and scientists aren't aware of these problems and trying to find alternatives. CA, for example, has done a ton of research on cool pavements and other ways to decrease the UHI. You can do google searches and find the research papers. Also re: asphalt: was coating all of our nice light colored concrete freeways with darker colored rubberized asphalt really worth it (in terms of noise and money spent?) I'm sure a lot of pockets were lined with that one

Also, give the City of Phoenix some credit. They've had a big (and successful) white roof campaign, encouraging owners of warehouses and industrial buildings to paint their roofs white, not only to save electricity, but also to help with the UHI issue. That said, I am a little disappointed that there aren't more suburban homes with white tile roofs instead of the dark color tiles you often see--it makes no sense to me, but builders follow what the market demands.

In Los Angeles that particular company was painting white over black asphalt, which as you correctly point out, is already over light colored concrete.

I know concrete is loud and not pleasant for driving because of that, but driving cars over 50 square miles with low density is why we have this issue in the first place. We wouldn't have an UHI if less people had cars and didn't seem to have this strong aversion to live in town versus the suburbs. It's been a minute since I drove in California but, last I recall, most of the freeways were just concrete over there and it wasn't that bad. So just moving to concrete should provide noticeable changes in not only savings for our taxes, but the UHI, given the size of our city.

Personally I think it should be a law, not just an encouragement, that roofs should be light colored here and/or be covered in solar panels. There are many appealing types of light colored roofs to fit all types of architecture so I don't want to hear about that. Red tile roofs that are rather popular here I don't think are an issue but... dark brown? Absolutely.

And it's not like there aren't other options, again see just leaving the roads as concrete, it's just that people care more about their driving experience being quiet than reducing their summer temperatures a few degrees. You're right... it's what the market demands.

[DougStark]

^^^ Prickly pear: correction. You said "driving cars over 50 sq. miles with low density". You probably meant 500 sq. miles (the physical size of Phoenix and Los Angeles are each over 500 sq. miles= massive obviously.)

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by DougStark

^^^ Prickly pear: correction. You said "driving cars over 50 sq. miles with low density". You probably meant 500 sq. miles (the physical size of Phoenix and Los Angeles are each over 500 sq. miles= massive obviously.)

That was a typo on my behalf.

[DougStark]

PS- You wouldn't have guessed this, but the sq. mile footprint of Oklahoma City is even bigger than Phoenix or Los Angeles. OKC is 620 sq. miles (probably lots of undeveloped land though.) Houston is even bigger: 627 sq. miles large.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by DougStark

PS- You wouldn't have guessed this, but the sq. mile footprint of Oklahoma City is even bigger than Phoenix or Los Angeles. OKC is 620 sq. miles (probably lots of undeveloped land though.) Houston is even bigger: 627 sq. miles large.

Jacksonville Florida is 874 sq ft or 747 sq miles if you only count land.

[DougStark]

^^^ Never been to Jax. I wonder if a lot of the land is swamp?

[Reginald Buckingham]

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