this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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Solarpunk Urbanism

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A community to discuss solarpunk and other new and alternative urbanisms that seek to break away from our currently ecologically destructive urbanisms.

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Walk outside into 100-degree heat wearing a black shirt, and you’ll feel a whole lot hotter than if you were wearing white. Now think about your roof: If it’s also dark, it’s soaking up more of the sun’s energy and radiating that heat indoors. If it were a lighter color, it’d be like your home was wearing a giant white shirt all the time.

This is the idea behind the “cool roof.” Last month, Atlanta joined a growing number of American cities requiring that new roofs be more reflective. That significantly reduces temperatures not just in a building, but in the surrounding urban environment. “I really wanted to be able to approach climate change in the city of Atlanta with a diversity of tactics,” said City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari, who authored the bill, “because it’s far easier to change a local climate than it is a global one.”

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[–] DempstersBox@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

A shade structure? Yes, a shade structure will dramatically reduce load on the AC of whatever is under it.

Would that help the larger city climate? Well sure, if it's trees. A giant umbrella over the top of a skyscraper? Who knows

[–] octopus_ink@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I have to admit I was really thinking of houses - it seems to me a small expense for such a potentially substantial improvement, especially if done at construction time.

(None of this is to disagree with the idea of using lighter/more reflective roofing materials, FWIW.)

Edit - and I don't mean a giant umbrella or similar, I feel like a typical home could easily just have a structure the size of the roof and spaced a few inches out from it.