Experiment
Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the air would be in and around a building with a highly reflective roof surface, as compared to the air in and around a building with a dark roof surface. The researchers constructed four identical small structures, with the exception that each structure had a different type of material for its roof. Each structure had a roof made of exactly one of the following four roofing materials: tin painted silver, tin painted white, black asphalt shingles, and asphalt shingles painted white. At a time when the outside air was 25°C, the following measurements were taken: roof surface temperature, air temperature six inches above the structure, and air temperature inside the structure.
The researchers hypothesized that, for each category, the structure with the white asphalt shingles would have the lowest temperatures, the structure with the white tin would have the second lowest temperatures, the structure with the black asphalt shingles would have the highest temperature, and the structure with the silver tin would have the second highest temperatures.
ResultsThe graphic shows the temperature measurements, to the nearest degree, that the researchers took for each of the four roofing types.
Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the air would be in and around a building with a highly reflective roof surface, as compared to the air in and around a building with a dark roof surface. The researchers constructed four identical small structures, with the exception that each structure had a different type of material for its roof. Each structure had a roof made of exactly one of the following four roofing materials: tin painted silver, tin painted white, black asphalt shingles, and asphalt shingles painted white. At a time when the outside air was 25°C, the following measurements were taken: roof surface temperature, air temperature six inches above the structure, and air temperature inside the structure.
The researchers hypothesized that, for each category, the structure with the white asphalt shingles would have the lowest temperatures, the structure with the white tin would have the second lowest temperatures, the structure with the black asphalt shingles would have the highest temperature, and the structure with the silver tin would have the second highest temperatures.
ResultsThe graphic shows the temperature measurements, to the nearest degree, that the researchers took for each of the four roofing types.