LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — TreesLouisville is working to reduce extreme heat by resurfacing its parking lot with a non-traditional coating.
Cool pavement is a light gray-colored sealant that reflects sunlight, unlike the more commonly used alternative, black asphalt.Â
Jake Ackley, operations manager for the the nonprofit's Green Team, recorded the temperature of the parking lot surface before the cool pavement was added.
"In the summer months, the average temperature was about 138 degrees," Ackley said. "After we got done, I took it last week during the heat wave, and it was about 112 degrees."
Ackley said the organization is using its lot to demonstrate what tools the city can implement to reduce heat.
"If all of our blacktop around the city looked like this, the city would be 20 degrees cooler than it otherwise is," he said.
Cool pavement also cools down its surrounding atmosphere by 10-15 degrees.
Black asphalt can help melt snow and ice faster than cool pavement, but Ackley said the gray coating's benefits outweigh its drawbacks.
"If you've ever been outside in a snowstorm without glasses, it's blinding. Snow has a similar effect," Ackley said. "Once you get a layer of snow on top of something, the blacktop isn't going to absorb as much because the snow is radiating (the heat) back into the atmosphere."
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