This story is co-published with Grist, and is part of Record High, a Grist series examining extreme heat and its impact on how—and where—we live. Read more…

It is a coating that can be applied to the surface of asphalt streets that can reflect solar radiation, rather than absorb it. Pacoima is one of the hottest neighborhoods in metro L.A. And last year, they decided to test this technology. Ten square blocks of streets, an elementary school yard and a basketball court were covered with “cool paint."

As temperatures climbed to 95 degrees on a recent afternoon in Pacoima, the surfaces with “reflective paint” were 10 degrees cooler than regular old asphalt. Preliminary research by the company that installed the paint, GAF Roofing, shows the pavement is helping to cool the ambient temperature of the whole 10-block area — and sometimes beyond — by as much as 3 degrees, possibly more.

Ways to Decrease Pollution and Reverse Climate Change

The regular pavement used on highways and roads is making its own unique evolution just like other technology. Today, you’ll find Cool Pavement and Dark Pavement. Each one uses additives mixed into the road surfacing material to accomplish something. But how does this affect pollution?

Facts About Cool Pavement

Cool pavementcontains additives that reflect solar radiation. The end result is…

Brand New Paint Job #streetphotography #parkinglot #paint #coolpavement #lines #asphalt

I have been photographing parking lot paint jobs for a while (see Parking Lot Photography, Derelict Parking Lot, Aging Parking Lot Segment, Parking Lot Impasto).

Brand New Paint Job with Chalk Line

I always thought that the black color of the parking lot was due to the natural color of asphalt. But the streaks of black on the yellow rubber bumpy pad appear to be paint.

If the lines and parking…

Cool pavement is increasing its presence in the construction industry. With the movement to reduce heat island emissions, the incorporation of cool pavement is a greatadvance in this gigantic task. Cool pavement reduces and reflects heat to outer surfaces producing better environmental...

Here are a few photos from our trip to the Cal Academy of Sciences.  One of our favorite features of the museum is its living rooftop, which is home to 1.7 million native plants.

Typical black tar roofs tend to trap heat and add to what is known as the urban heat island effect. The Academy's green rooftop keeps the building's interior an average of 10° cooler than a standard roof would (which really helps with energy costs -- one-sixth of all electricity consumed in the U.S. goes to cool buildings).

The rooftop reminded us of a recent video we shot about cool pavement technology that is being developed at Berkeley Lab to help counteract the heat island effect in our cities.