Cool roofs reflect sunlight and absorb less heat. Depending on the setting, cool roofs can help keep indoor temperatures lower by 2 to 4°C as compared to the regular roofs. Cool roofs function primarily by absorbing less heat and reflecting more sunlight incident on the roof back to the atmosphere than a regular roof surface. These roofs can be installed from a wide variety of materials and coatings and can be advantageously applied to almost any building or roof type, and in most locations.
Hyderabad’s low-income communities house a population of over 1.9 million people. A majority of the houses in low-income neighborhoods are constructed with concrete slab or asbestos roofs. As the city works to improve living and housing conditions in these neighborhoods, the use of cool roofs provides an opportunity to impact human health and comfort in the city of Hyderabad.
In 2017, GHMC conducted a pilot on the roofs of 25 slum households in a low-income neighborhood. The pilot consisted of installation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) cool roof membrane, Tyvek, provided by Dupont on the roofs of these households. These membranes worked to reduce the indoor room temperature by nearly 2-3 degrees Celsius in the peak summers. The pilot was implemented working with partners- Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and International Institute for Information Technology- Hyderabad (IIIT-H).
For more information on pilot Please refer to ‘KEEPING IT COOL’
For more information on cool roofs please refer to ‘FAQs Cool Roofs’.