What are Cool Pavements?
Roughly one-third of a typical city’s surface area is paved (Akbari and Rose). Many paved streets and parking lots use dark materials that absorb 80-95% of sunlight and warm our cities (LBNL Heat Island Group). Cool pavements, like cool roofs and cool exterior walls, are materials that efficiently reflect sunlight (solar energy) and cool themselves by emitting any heat that is absorbed. The pavement surface stays cooler, which may help mitigate the urban heat island effect or reduce the need for air conditioning.
The two basic characteristics that determine the "coolness" of a pavement material are solar reflectance and thermal emittance. Both properties are measured on a scale from 0 to 1, where 1 is 100% reflective or emissive.
Benefits of Cool Pavements
Cool pavements can lower surface temperatures by 10-12°F and contribute to cooler air temperatures when deployed at scale (City of Phoenix).
Lower outdoor air temperatures allow air conditioners to cool buildings more efficiently (LBNL Heat Island Group). This helps address air pollution and global warming concerns by lowering CO2 and other emissions associated with fossil fuel-generated electricity used for air-conditioning.
Reduce the urban heat island effect by reflecting solar radiation back to the atmosphere. An urban heat island occurs when a city is hotter than the surrounding rural areas due to dark surfaces, like roofs and roads, that absorb heat from the sun and have less shade trees and vegetation.
Pavements with cooler surfaces undergo less thermal expansion, leading to a longer service life than traditional dark pavements (Pomerantz, Akbari & Harvey 2000).
Cool pavements reflect more light than non-reflective pavement materials, increasing visibility and driver safety and reducing the need for street lighting at night by more than 30% (LBNL Heat Island Group).
Cool Pavement Resources & Programs
Cool Pavement Resources
Cool Pavement Programs and Projects
Cool Pavement Research
This is not an exhaustive list of the research published about the impacts and effectiveness of cool pavement materials.
A Review on the Development of Cool Pavements to Mitigate Urban Heat Island Effect (Qin, 2015)
Cool Pavements: State of the Art and New Technologies (Kappou et al, 2022)
Cool Pavement Pilot Program: A report prepared for the City of Phoenix (Arizona State University, October 2024)
Cool Pavement Pilot Program: Joint Study Between the City of Phoenix and Arizona State University (Arizona State University, September
2021)
Cooler Reflective Pavements Give Benefits Beyond Energy Savings: Durability and Illumination (Pomerantz, Akbari & Harvey, 2000)
Dynamics of Cool Surface Performance on Urban Microclimate: A Full-Scale Experimental Study in Singapore (Donthu et al., 2024)
Emerging Technologies in Cool Pavements: A Review (Anupam et al., 2021)
Evaluating the Urban Heat Mitigation Potential of the San Antonio Cool Pavement Pilot Program (Debbage, et al., 2024)
Evidence-based guidance on reflective pavement for urban heat mitigation in Arizona (Schneider et al., 2023)
Quantifying Pavement Albedo (National Concrete Pavement Technology Center, 2019)
Optimizing Retro-Reflective Surfaces to Untrap Radiation and Cool Cities (Huang et al., 2024)
Solar reflective pavements—A policy panacea to heat mitigation? (Middel et al., 2020)
Urban Surfaces and Heat Island Mitigation Potentials (Akbari and Rose, 2008)
University and other Academic Research Centers
The following universities and academic research centers conduct research related to cool pavement materials.
Pavement Ratings Steering Committee
The PRSC is exploring the viability of a potential Pavement Materials Rating Program.
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