Review of White Roofing Materials and Emerging Economies with Focus on Energy Performance Cost-Benefit, Maintenance, and Consumer Indifference

Fadye Al Fayad, Wahid Maref and Mohamed M. Awad
Additional contact information
Fadye Al Fayad: Business Administration Department, Jubail University College, Royal Commission for Jubail, Al Jubail 35716, Saudi Arabia
Wahid Maref: Construction Engineering Department, École de Technologie Supérieur (ÉTS), University of Québec, 1100 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal, QC H3C 1K3, Canada
Mohamed M. Awad: Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 17, 1-21

Abstract: This article performed a comprehensive review of the different state-of-the-art of roofing technologies and roofing materials and their impact on the urban heat island (UHI) and energy consumption of buildings. The building roofs are the main sources of undesirable heat for buildings, especially in warm climates. This paper discusses the use and application of white roofing material in emerging economies. The use of white roofing material is a suggestion because of its cooling, evaporative and efficiency characteristics compared to traditional black roofing materials. Many research studies have shown that the darker roofing surfaces that are prevalent in many urban areas actually can increase temperature by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius to the environment surrounding these urban areas. Additionally, improved temperature control and heat reflection also work to reduce the energy requirements for the interior spaces of the structures that have white roofing surfaces. The white or lighter colored roofs tend to reflect a part of the solar radiation that strikes the roof’s surface. Consequently, one might believe that white roofing material would be commonplace and especially so within emerging economies. Yet, this is hardly the case at all. This paper examines the issue of white roofing materials in emerging economies from a dual perspective. The dual perspective includes the technical details of white roofing material and its impact on lowering the interior temperature of the affected structures, which consequently reduces hours of indoor thermal discomfort and use of air conditioners in indoor spaces. The other element in this study, however, involves the marketing aspect of white roofing material. This includes its adoption, acceptance and cost-benefit in emerging economies.

Keywords: white roofs; cool roofs; reflective material; cost-benefit; energy savings; urban heat island (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9967/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9967/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:17:p:9967-:d:629808

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().