Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

DC painting special coating on roads in hopes of cooling ‘urban heat islands'

nbcwashington.com · 7h · first reportShare

D.C. is testing out a new method to try to cool down some of the city’s hottest neighborhoods. D.C. Department of Transportation crews were out Tuesday morning applying a light colored, solar-reflective coating on Half Street SW, one of five areas the city designated as “urban heat islands.” Fewer trees and a lot of pavement in those areas of D.C. cause the asphalt to absorb more heat, raising the air temperature by as much as 10 to 15 degrees higher than nearby rural areas on hot summer days, DDOT said. Crews began applying the “cool pavement” coating on some city streets in late July as part of a pilot program. “It’s a relatively simple idea that has a large impact. So by putting on a lighter coating, it can reduce the temperatures by about 20°,” DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum told News4. “Why would it work? Well, it reflects sunlight so for obvious reasons sunlight doesn’t get absorbed into the black asphalt pavement. So it keeps the temperatures down for the whole neighborhood,” sa