Could White Roofs Paint Greener Future?

(CBS)  Could painting your roof white be an effective defense against global warming?

Some very important people think so.

Early Show national correspondent Hattie Kauffman put that idea to the test.

In any given city, most rooftops are black. And that's the problem. The darker the surface, the more heat it retains.

Kauffman was joined by "Bill Nye the Science Guy" on the roof of CBS Television City.

Nye used a meter to demonstrate that the lighter the surface, the better it is for the environment.

"The building doesn't get as hot, so you don't need to run the air conditioner nearly as long -- if (the roof is)white," Nye said.

A shiny example is the white-painted villages in Greece. Turns out they were ahead of their time. Energy Secretary Steven Chu says, if all rooftops and roads in the world were made white it could combat global warming.

"That would be the equivalent as if you took off all the automobiles of the world for of the world for eleven years," Chu said.

Think of it this way: Every year, you would keep 2.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, or the emissions produced by 60 million cars. There would be even more savings if roads and parking lots were not covered in black asphalt.

"So the same needle says just 2 1/2 -- which means it's absorbing more heat, keeping the city warmer," he noted. "It's squandering billions of tons of carbon dioxide every year."

For much more information, visit "White Roofs Cool the World, Directly Offset CO2 and Delay Global Warming".

[premierroofing]

White or light colored roofs will work on commerical buildings, but will take some time to catch on in the residential market

[boosterAU]

Changing all my <a href="http://www.eagleroofing.liveonatt.com"> roofing </a> to white is going to save the world? Ok i can see that for the summer time, but what about during the winter? 1/2 of the year is cold!

[MendelPotok]

I have to disagree jchev13, the color makes a huge difference. Parking lots have a different climate (a micro climate) that's hotter and gets more rain. Individually, our roofs don't have as big a change on their own, but collectively they have a large effect across the neighbor hood. You've even claim to notice such a change yourself, your house is warmer due to your black roof. However, you can get the same results by increasing your insulation and having thicker roofing material (white roofing material :p)

www.adeptcontractorsinc.com

[jchev13]

This is a stupid idea. I agree it may save energy in the summertime, but will it save more then it costs with the heat I lose in the winter. I live in the Northeast and during the cold winter months my black roof helps to warm my home and saves on my heating oil bill as well as the environment. I don't know about you but it costs me on average approx $200 a month to heat my house from NOV through APRIL while it only costs me $50 a month to cool my house from MAY through OCT. Which way is wasting more energy? Should I paint my roof every 6 months, white in the summer and black in winter? This may work in warmer climates like Florida, but not in the North. I'm sure Obama bin Laden just wants us to spend more on oil for his muslim terroist buddies !!!!!!!!!!!!