News

Researchers from the United States and Brazil have developed a new device that can reduce energy losses in buildings by measuring and assessing the energy performance of windows without removing them from their site. The Portable Window Energy Meter, still in prototype stage, was developed by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and from Brazil’s Federal University of... Read more

Two projects within the Energy Technologies Area won honors at the 2016 R&D 100 Awards, an international science and technology competition. The research — Cool Roof Time Machine and Sustainable and Affordable Fluoride Removal (SAFR)—joins three other Berkeley Lab projects recognized among the past year's "most technologically significant products," according to R&D Magazine."Winning... Read more

One Sunday evening, in 2007, Christian Kohler and his dinner date, Jina Shah, were presented with a most unusual check at Karma Kitchen, a monthly experiment in "pay it forward" dining served by volunteers at the Taste of the Himalayas, an Indian/Nepalese restaurant in downtown Berkeley.The price of their meal? Zero dollars. But it came with a karmic twist. They could pay it forward by paying for... Read more

Launched in 2014, EERE International’s South Africa Clean Energy Project brings together experts from the U.S. and South Africa, including Lab researchers, led by ETA’s Charlie Curcija (center). They use DOE-developed software to analyze typical building structures in South Africa, specifically looking at the building envelope to determine their energy efficiency and locate opportunities to... Read more

Elementary school science teaches us that in the sun, dark colors get hot while white stays cool. Now new research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has found an exception: Scientists have determined that certain dark pigments can stay just as cool as white by using fluorescence, the re-emission of absorbed light.The researchers tested this concept by coloring cool roof... Read more

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has been awarded more than $4 million by the Department of Energy (DOE) to undertake three projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings, which account for more than 40 percent of the country's energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.The projects, all developed in the Lab's Energy Technologies Area (ETA), will help meet... Read more

While air conditioning temporarily cools, it’s making our world hotter. According to Berkeley Lab researchers, a crash program to maintain or establish three shade trees per building and make all roofs and pavement in U.S. cities reflective could decrease national cooling demand by 20 percent by driving temperatures lower.For more, read The Washington Post article from July 22, 2016.... Read more

Berkeley Lab is co-sponsoring the RCMA International Roof Coatings Conference. Join the cool roofing industry at the 2016 conference in Philadelphia this year. The event includes an exciting lineup of expert speakers and educational sessions, as well as a number of fun networking events and activities for our attendees.Dates: July 18-21, 2016Hotel: Sonesta Hotel PhiladelphiaLocation: Philadelphia,... Read more

Registration is now open for the Fourth International Conference on Countermeasure to Urban Heat Island (4th IC2UHI) 2016Singapore on 30-31 May and 1 June 2016.The theme of the conference: Countering Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Climate Change through Mitigation and Adaptation.The conference will be hosted by the Department of Building, National University of Singapore. The venue of the conference... Read more

About 10% of the energy used in U.S. buildings—approximately 4 quads a year—compensates for energy lost through windows. To address this inefficiency, architects, engineers, and home-builders are advocating the use of high-performance windows, which are composed of insulated glass units (IGUs) that combine multiple panes, thin film coatings, and special gas fills between the panes, and... Read more

Low-cost coating would disrupt the building retrofit market and potentially save billions in electricity.It’s estimated that 10 percent of all the energy used in buildings in the U.S. can be attributed to window performance, costing building owners about $50 billion annually, yet the high cost of replacing windows or retrofitting them with an energy efficient coating is a major deterrent. U.S.... Read more

New Berkeley Lab study uses regional climate model to compare heat waves to normal summer conditions.It is well established that white roofs can help mitigate the urban heat island effect, reflecting the sun’s energy back into space and reducing a city’s temperature under normal weather conditions. In a new study of Guangzhou, China, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)... Read more

Standards body approves Berkeley Lab’s method to mimic natural soiling of roofing materials.Cool roofs can help keep buildings cool, thus lowering the building’s energy use, while also mitigating the urban heat island effect by reflecting sunlight away from buildings and cities. But as cool roofs age and get soiled, how much of their reflectance do they lose?A collaboration led by scientists... Read more

Berkeley Lab scientists, including the Heat Island Group's Dr. Ronnen Levinson, each presented one of the Lab's 8 Big Ideas in front of a packed house in Oakland, CA on 8 October, 2014. His presentation, "Cool Roofs through Time and Space", featured the new California Cities Albedo Map. Related Video: https://youtu.be/n-2ZNCzYimw... Read more

A new website intended to help architects, building engineers, and manufacturers develop and make better use of energy-efficient glazing and façade systems in commercial buildings is now available. Developed by the Windows and Envelope Materials Group of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD), at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), "Low Energy, High Performance... Read more

California has completed the highest number of goals to prepare for climate change, followed by Massachusetts and New York, according to a first-of-its-kind 50-state tracking tool unveiled Thursday.In the last five years, there's been a burst of state efforts to deal with already occurring climate impacts such as more frequent storms and rising sea levels. They've ranged from elevating wastewater... Read more

Ronnen Levinson, Heat Island Group leader and staff scientist, was recently interviewed by Southern California Public Radio to discuss the new interactive rooftop reflectance map for California cities. You can view the article and listen to the radio segment here, and you can check out the map at AlbedoMap.LBL.gov.... Read more

How cool is your roof? If you live in the California cities of Bakersfield, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or San Jose, you may be able to find out.Scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have created an interactive map that displays the solar reflectance (also known as albedo) of individual roofs in these five West Coast cities.You... Read more

The Heat Island Group, with support from the California Energy Commission and California Air Resources Board, developed a new web portal for local governments to learn more about the science and implementation of cool community strategies in California. The new portal features information on urban vegetation, cool roofs and cool pavements on CoolCalifornia.org. The website also includes... Read more

Whether playing fusion, bebop or modern jazz, bassist George Ban-Weiss loses himself in the passion, creativity and freedom of music, finding transcendence in his art.His willingness to push boundaries has made him a much in-demand musician. Ban-Weiss has appeared on dozens of albums, toured and played with scores of bands with different sounds and styles.“Improvised music has shown me the value... Read more

After three years of collaborative investigation, Ronnen Levinson and Jing Ge of LBNL's Heat Island Group co-authored a paper with Chinese researchers titled, "Cool roofs in China: Policy review, building simulations, and proof-of-concept experiments." Their work characterizes the potential for heat island mitigation, energy use, energy cost, and ambient air quality as a result of replacing dark... Read more

From his office in the Berkeley hills, Art Rosenfeld looks out on the heart of California's Bay Area. The 87-year-old scientist keeps a pencil and a small notebook in his breast pocket, ready to jot down a quick note or make a calculation. With these simple tools he has been able to influence state and national energy policy over the years. But for now they stay tucked away as he enjoys the... Read more

Cool roofs—those with reflectance and emissivity that make them good at keeping out the sun’s heat—are recommended widely without much regard for climate or project specifics. They’ve been adopted into multiple energy codes, including ASHRAE 90.1, the International Energy Conservation Code, and California’s Title 24, not to mention LEED. The concept even has its own bill in the U.S.... Read more

EPA's Heat Island Reduction Program invites you to join our webcast on June 26, 2014 ; please see the details below.Keeping Your Cool: How Communities Across the Country are Reducing the Heat Island EffectThe term "heat island" refers to built-up areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas. The heat island effect can negatively affect communities by increasing summertime peak energy demand, air... Read more

BERKELEY — Every year, thousands of students come to Berkeley with vague ambitions to change the world. The annual Big Ideas@Berkeley competition is inspiring some of them to do just that — by launching globally life-changing innovations even before they graduate. Last week, the program honored this year's winning projects with an awards celebration at the Blum Center for Developing... Read more