A Phoenix subcommittee is considering whether to recommend that City Council do more to encourage “cool roofs” in the city, roofs that reflect more sunlight than standard roofs, cooling the inside of the building.
Possible city actions could range from simply spreading education about cool roofs to providing economic incentives to increasing requirements for cool roofs.
During this month’s Urban Heat Island/Trees and Shade Subcommittee meeting, Mark Hartman, Phoenix’s chief sustainability officer, said the only current cool roof requirement in the city is for construction of new buildings of a certain size with a flat roof or roof with a small slope. Aside from a reflective roof material, a steeper sloped roof also helps keep less of the sun’s heat from getting into a building. The larger flat-roof buildings tend to be non-residential buildings.
