Smart Surfaces Coalition

Cool Roadways Partnership

Aerial view of light-colored roads and sidewalks.

Cool Roadways Partnership

The Cool Roadways Partnership (CRP) is a peer learning network that aims to scale the deployment of cool roadway options as a key strategy to manage rising urban temperatures and build heat-resilient communities. The CRP meets quarterly to share progress and learn from current projects and programs.

Objectives

  • The CRP is a convening space for municipalities, researchers, and organizations to communicate insights on cool pavement project and stay up to date on technological progress.

  • The CRP works with manufacturers to assess the cool roadway solutions that are currently available and encourage development of new solutions.

  • CRP’s priority is to increase the number and variety of cool roadway demonstrations to help overcome barriers to their widespread use.

  • CRP’s long-term goal is to establish procurement specification standards that cities can adopt and for cool roadways to ultimately be embedded in state and local roadwork policies.

The Smart Surfaces Coalition recognizes that cool pavement products utilize diverse technologies with varying effectiveness. In an effort to generate impartial data on product performance, SSC recently sent a request to federal agencies for government-supported testing of cool pavement products, with support from municipalities. Read the letter here.

Cool Roadway Projects & Programs

Research Findings

CRP Background

The Smart Surfaces Coalition raised funding from the JPB Foundation for SSC partners to expand urban Smart Surfaces adoption, including working with multiple cities to launch a program of adopting reflective road and parking lot resurfacing. The Global Cool Cities Alliance (GCCA) was one of SSC’s partners for whom SSC raised funds to manage the Cool Roadways Partnership (CRP). SSC is delighted to continue this important work as of October 2023. Additional CRP resources can still be found on GCCA’s website.

 

FAQs

  • Cool pavement refers to a range of emerging technologies that reduce surface and nearby air temperatures, either by increasing the amount of solar energy reflected by the surface, or making the surface permeable to water to cool by evaporation.

  • Cool pavements reduce surface temperatures by 5-20°F. Air temperature reductions are possible when cool pavements are installed at scale.

  • Cool pavements are more durable, reduce street lighting needs and improve nighttime visibility, and lower the temperature of stormwater runoff. When installed at scale, cool pavements can reduce demand for electricity and air conditioning, and improve air quality by reducing ozone formation

  • Material costs vary widely, ranging from under $4 to approximately $20 per square yard.

  • Curing times vary by product and weather conditions, but can be anywhere from under an hour to a little over a day– very similar to traditional products.

  • While cool roofs and white roofs are used interchangeably, the same is not true for pavements. Most cool pavements are medium to light gray in color — similar to a fresh concrete sidewalk. Glare is rarely, if ever, a complaint.

  • Energy benefits and costs of cooler pavements depend on the scale, siting, and location of implementation but is generally positive. An analysis conducted by Akbari et al. (2001) for Los Angeles estimated that energy and environmental savings alone are about $0.36 per square meter.

 
 

Downloadable Cool Roadways Fact Sheet

 

For further inquiries about the Cool Roadways Partnership, or to access previous meeting materials, contact Iona at i.isachsen@smartsurfacescoalition.org