Reducing urban heat islands by developing cool pavements

Abstract

In this study, albedo’s effect on surface temperature and thermal gradient of concrete pavement was investigated. A concrete pavement in KTU campus area was coated with high-reflectance paint and was compared to the uncoated surface. Sixty percent higher albedo values were measured on the coated area than uncoated area due to high reflectance of pavement material. Also, surface temperature and heat gradients of paint-coated surface were 40% and 38%, respectively, lower than the uncoated surface of the coated surface. Considering the albedo effects, high-reflective pavements can reduce the heat island effects five times compared to asphalt pavements. In conclusion, the street pavements should be painted with highly reflected paints which can prevent the solar reflection as a result of the heat island effect significantly.