Why LA Streets are Being Painted White

Sometimes, when it comes down to being efficient, we need to really take ourselves back to the basics to figure out how to best solve a problem. When it comes to keeping buildings cool in hot Los Angeles heat, it looks like they found a solution that will have many wondering why they hadn’t thought of it include first place. Now, as you might know, darker colors are more prone to absorb heat, so with these street coverings, the city of Los Angeles hopes to reflect the sun’s light, helping to keep everyone cooler while lowering energy costs in the process.

In this video, it claims that by simply coating the black top with a white sealer, it will keep the surface 10° to 15° cooler. Naturally, this means that the heat that would be absorbed and radiated into the immediate environment would be a lot cooler. While it might cost cities $40,000 per mile to have this coat installed, there could really be widespread savings across the board. Even if they rolled this into taxes, I don’t think people would mind with the lower cooling costs should it all work as according to plan.

The only real red flag that you see with something like this white-top that video below claims will last up to seven years is the fact that tire marks and oil stains will probably make it a little bit less effective. Check out the video below that lays out the entire argument as to why something like this might be a good idea and tell us what you think of the coating that is meant to help keep everything cooler. Do you think that something like this would be a good call to help keep the city cool? Do you think that there are other, better ways to keep the heat away?