Cooling the Planet One Roadway at a Time

The reallocation of land due to urbanization, when coupled with ever-rising vehicular emission levels, is intensifying the Urban Heat Island effect in our cities. Heat build-up is particularly prevalent in America’s impoverished inner city communities, where environmental inequities exacerbate health-related concerns in adjacent densely populated communities.

Factors Contributing to Urban Heat Island Effect

Heat build-up inevitably modifies the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL), adversely affecting air flow and further deteriorating air quality.
Heat build-up inevitably modifies the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL), adversely affecting air flow and further deteriorating air quality.

In addition to the ecological and health concerns related to warm temperatures, the UHI effect increases energy demand.

PROVEN: Cool Substrates Help Mitigate UHI

Research has demonstrated that improving the solar reflectance of urban infrastructures experiencing Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect can range as high as 100 tons of CO2e per lane mile of pavement per year. That translates into a potential offset of over 40 gigatons of CO2e annually if cool roofs and pavements were adopted worldwide.
Research has demonstrated that improving the solar reflectance of urban infrastructures experiencing Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect can range as high as 100 tons of CO2e per lane mile of pavement per year. That translates into a potential offset of over 40 gigatons of CO2e annually if cool roofs and pavements were adopted worldwide.

Conventional paving materials can reach peak summertime temperatures of 150°F or more, transferring excess heat to the air above them as well as heating stormwater run-off, adversely affecting not only the health of surrounding communities but the watershed ecology.

The solar-reflective properties of the PlusTi™ family of cool pavement smog-eating-road solutions can reduce infrastructure surface temperatures and emissivity by trippling the solar reflectance value (SRI) of pavements. Roadways, runways, bridges and other infrastructural components treated with PTI’s TiO2’s-based Photo Catalytic Technology (PCT) provide a solar-reflective top boundary that reduces pavement heat absorption and related Radiative Forcing (RF).

PROVEN: The PlusTi™ Family of Penetrants Significantly Improves SRI to Mitigate UHI

PROVEN: The PlusTi™ Family of Penetrants Significantly Improves SRI to Mitigate UHI

Solar Reflectance Index values based on ASTEM E 1980