Post government proposal, RWAs are showing interest in painting rooftops white to beat the heat

Forget spending on ACs and huge electricity bills, get a cheaper way to keep cool this summer. Simply paint your rooftop white. That's the idea the Delhi government has come up with to fight the unforgiving summer in an energy-efficient manner. And no, the idea isn't just buried in a bunch of sarkari documents.


Colour me blue: Cool roof tops are quite popular in Jodhpur.
Pic/Shashank shekhar

Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the city are kicked up about the proposition, and even industrial units are jumped at it.

Societies in the Capital are actively involved in promoting the scheme. RWA members are distributing pamphlets and circulars to educate residents about the benefits of cool roof tops that reflect heat, thus keeping a building cool, to beat the scorching Delhi heat. Generally roofs are painted in a light shade like white or lime or covered in light colour tiles.

"It is a simple method which we hope to be able to introduce across societies in this area. We have been asking residents to use this technique to keep the home cool this summer. This would also help in saving electricity," says Naresh Singh, and environment enthusiast and RWA volunteer at Sector 3, Dwarka.
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"Who'd have thought that the tools to fight global warming are as simple as paint and brush! Most of the residents are unaware about this thing. But we are actively promoting it and getting a very good response from the locals," says Suman Sarkar, an RWA member in a Kalkaji colony.

The decision, taken by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to encourage cool roofs in the city, has found takers in the corporate sector, too. The Paharpur Business Centre in Nehru Place (which, incidentally, has cleaner air than Darjeeling, as reported by MiD DAY in 2009), has adopted the measure.

CEO Kamal Meattle says, "The colour of green is white. For centuries, India has practised this principle. It is similar to India's discovery of 'Zero'. With a growing preference for working and living in air-conditioned spaces, we should keep in mind that white roofs are cooler and would help us be energy and water efficient, which is the first step to preserve nature."

"Research has shown that cool roofs also help increase the life expectancy of roofing systems because extreme cycles of heating and cooling tend to wear out materials as they expand and contract with the difference in temperatures," a Delhi government official said.

As a pilot project, the government decided to introduce cool roofing in its buildings such as the Delhi Secretariat and various hospitals and schools. Awareness would be spread further by means of a well-drafted manual.

They are simple and involve painting a roof white. White colour reflects light and heat into the space. White roofs keep the house cooler, thereby reducing the need for more air conditioning and water consumption. If white isn't quite your shade, light-coloured tiles and lime paints work just as well. In scientific jargon, they make buildings, which account for 40 per cent of all the energy used by humans, more energy efficient by making them subject to less thermal flux.