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Could still be a big deal in South America, Africa, and Asia. They have fewer issues with buildings that look bad, but are also less able to afford A/C. Those p
by baron816 5y ago
Could still be a big deal in South America, Africa, and Asia. They have fewer issues with buildings that look bad, but are also less able to afford A/C. Those people are also going to be most affected by climate change, and would want cheap ways to reduce the impact of intense heat waves.
- emodendroket 5y agoIt does seem a little grotesque if we're going to stick them with the problem and not even be willing to make aesthetic changes. Particularly when we're disproportionately responsible for the problem in the first place.
- Dylan16807 5y agoStick them with the problem? I'm not sure what you mean. And whether we're willing or not to make aesthetic roof changes has little impact on the climate.
- emodendroket 5y agoSaying "hey guys, tough luck, you're on your own, we refuse to change anything to reduce our wildly high per capita emissions" is sticking them with the problem. The claim of this article is that this white paint can reduce roof temperatures by 4.5 degrees centigrade, which is plausibly enough to substantially reduce demand for air conditioning, which is a major contributor to global warming. If the _only_ problem with this plan is that some people don't like the aesthetics -- I'm not saying that is the case, but granting it in this discussion -- it sounds like a frivolous objection.
- bserge 5y agoPainted my workshop roof white, temperature drop was noticeable. Needs a repaint though, after 6 years it's washed off. Then again I used the cheapest paint I could find, just to test it.
- Dylan16807 5y agoAir conditioning uses a bit more power than I thought, but it's still not that much. Installing a couple solar panels would probably be much more effective.
- emodendroket 5y agoI don't think they're exclusive strategies, and paint has some other things to recommend it like much simpler, lower-cost installation.
- Dylan16807 5y agoThey don't have to be exclusive but you'd obviously want to do the more cost-effective one first. > paint has some other things to recommend it like much simpler, lower-cost installation. I wouldn't say painting a roof is simpler than mounting 4-6 solar panels. Are you sure it's cheaper?
- emodendroket 5y agoJust taking the first Google results at their word, a roof painting is around $3000 and a solar panel installation around $15,000. Of course there are many variables to consider but I think it is likely to hold true in most cases.
- Dylan16807 5y agoThat's for bigger solar installations. A 2kW system would cost about $4k after tax credit and it would probably save you a lot more energy. And how many years will the paint last?