Energy and Surface Performance of Light-Coloured Surface Treatments

Ezgi Eren, Vamsi Navya Krishna Mypati and Filippo Giammaria Praticò ()
Additional contact information
Ezgi Eren: DIIES Department, University “Mediterranea” of Reggio Calabria, Via Graziella—Feo di Vito, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Vamsi Navya Krishna Mypati: DIIES Department, University “Mediterranea” of Reggio Calabria, Via Graziella—Feo di Vito, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Filippo Giammaria Praticò: DIIES Department, University “Mediterranea” of Reggio Calabria, Via Graziella—Feo di Vito, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-33

Abstract: This study presents the evaluation of the photometric performance and energy-saving potential of light-coloured pavement mixtures (LCPMs) in road lighting applications, along with their effects on surface friction, macrotexture, and specularity. The application of LCPMs in tunnels can enhance road surface illumination, thereby improving driver visibility, increasing road safety and comfort, and reducing energy consumption per kilometre. While such surface treatments enable more efficient and cost-effective lighting, maintaining an optimal balance in surface performance poses many challenges due to the impact on concurrent targets in terms of friction, macrotexture, noise contribution, and specularity. Indeed, issues related to friction performance, macrotexture characteristics, and the concurring energy-saving potential of LCPMs remain insufficiently explored. To this end, investigations were conducted to assess the energy-saving potential of light-coloured surface treatments and to evaluate the photometric, frictional, and macrotexture properties of different densely graded LCPMs. A new method was set up and implemented to compare different surface treatments. The results indicate that light-coloured surface treatments increased the average luminance coefficient (up to 0.2406), with glass-containing mixtures offering greater potential for improved surface texture, friction, and energy-efficient road lighting.

Keywords: energy savings; average luminance coefficient; reflection factor; mean texture depth; pendulum test value (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8902/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8902/ (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:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8902-:d:1766198

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 ().