b'going greenwhite outDoes your roof need a repaint? Why not help the environment and paint it white?E mbracingeco-friendlyprinciplescanseemtrickyifitis complicated or costly. Now theres a measure thats simple but effective. Its painting your roof white, and usually involves no extra cost during regular maintenance.The idea is slowly catching on as one of the fastest and cheapest ways to help reduce global warming by mimicking the way that the polar icecaps reflect sunlight back into space and cool the planet. Buildings without air conditioning also benefit by being cooler andThe first roof painted as a result of the White Roofs Project more pleasant to inhabit in summer, according to local campaignerwas this large villa in Mt Albert, Auckland. Ian Montanjees. Those with air conditioners use less electricity. When sunlight falls on a white roof, much if it is reflected back into space, whereas when sunlight falls on a dark roof, much of it isWhen whites not alrightabsorbed and converted into heat. This heat is blocked from passingA white roof wont be suitable for every home. If your roof is back into space because it is absorbed by greenhouse gases in theoverlooked by a neighbour who might find a white roof too atmosphere.bright, then use a deeper tint of off-white or consider a darker Says Ian: The White Roofs Project is an immediate action plan thatcolour using Resene Summit Roof CoolColour paint. people can do themselves or that can be organised on a nationalWhen town planning regulations in some areas only allow for level, as a win-win solution. While many people have a feeling ofdark roof colours that blend in with the bush, darker shades of helplessnessaboutwhattheycanpersonallydoaboutreducingResene CoolColour paint offer a valuable alternative. While this global warming, when they see people, business, and governmentspaint is not as reflective as pure white paint, it is significantly being slow to take the necessary steps, the white roofs idea gives us amore reflective than standard paint of the same colour due to positive action plan that we can do ourselves without having to waitspecial pigments that reflect more of the suns energy, keeping for others to act. your roof cooler. Scientific research has shown that a flat white roof measuring 100AReseneCoolColouroptionisalsoidealifyouwantto sq m (the size of a modest house) reflects enough sunlight to cancelimprove the amount of heat your roof reflects but dont like the global warming of about 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissionsthe thought of having a pure white roof as part of your exterior (roughly that put out by 2.5 cars over one year).colour scheme.Ian isnt alone in his passion for white roofs. The US Secretary of Energy Dr Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize winning physicist, is a supporterReseneand the Obama administration is now painting federal roofs whiteHalf Villa White(in America, the movement is called cool roofs). The Mayor of NewReseneKoruYorkscoolroofscampaignhaspassedtheonemillionthsquare foot of white roof and attracted partnerships with local well-known businesses. There is now a Cool Roofs Project co-financed by the European Union in countries like the UK, Greece, Italy, and France. White roofs have been used here not just on houses but also on large buildings like the Sylvia Park Shopping Centre in Auckland. TheResene Quarteroff-white Auckland International Airport roof is another well-knownMilk Whiteexample. www.whiteroofs.org.nz.79'