Operating under the Department of Building’s Buildings Sustainability Board, the NYC Cool Roofs initiative encourages building owners to cool their rooftops by applying a reflective white coating that reduces energy use, cooling costs and carbon emissions. The program supports New York City’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030, as outlined in PlaNYC - the city’s comprehensive sustainability plan.

Under a law signed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in April 2011, property owners of existing buildings must add reflective materials to their rooftop if 50 percent of the roof area, or more than 500 square feet of the roof area, is replaced or renovated. To date, more than 2.8 million square feet of New York City roofs have been cool coated.

“New York City has more than 1.6 billion square feet of rooftops,” explains David Bragdon, director of the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. “By coating rooftops white, we can help reduce temperatures and save building owners money. The NYC Cool Roofs program is a perfect example of how property owners, tenants, and volunteers can take tangible actions to help us meet the goals of PlaNYC and create a greener, greater New York.”

Michael Magallanes, Coat’N’Cool vice president of sales and marketing, said, “We are certainly pleased to be a vendor for the NYC Cool Roofs program. Based on our experience at Coat’N’Cool, a reflective cool roof coating can lower interior temperature of a building by 8-12 degrees during the hottest four hours of a summer day, which is normally noon to four in the afternoon. Not only does the lower interior temperature help reduce energy costs, but in a commercial building, it also improves worker productivity and comfort, especially in a non-air conditioned space.” Magallanes pointed out that Coat’N’Cool’s products have earned an ENERGY STAR rating.

 Researchers at Concordia University have found that even a slight improvement in the reflectivity of roof and hardscape surfaces could lead to a global reduction of billions of tons of carbon dioxide, a key ingredient in global warming. An increase as small as one percent in the amount of white roofs or roads installed across the urban world would reduce the volume of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by upwards of 130 billion tons over the next 50 to 100 years, the study reports.

For more information, visit www.coatncool.com.