Wow it’s amazing you can lower energy costs 30 percent with something as stupid as painting the roof a different color.
What is also stupid is how I wear all black every day 365 days a year even though NYC summers are total swamp zone. But I FEEL cool so that’s what matters right?
Mad, right? Just a lick of paint. But if this leads to a NYT headline "Journalist arrested for trying to paint entire city block white," I refuse to be held responsible. I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE IDEAS, ANNE.
Also, black is eternally cool, except thermodynamically, which doesn't matter.
Phew, thank god we can cool the buildings while keeping them the same color. I wouldn’t trust a white McDonalds, even if it meant their ice cream machine might actually be working for once
Super cool, and indeed: amazing. I love to remind myself that color is unique to humans, at least insofar as the way we see them. Light is light, but different wavelengths appear different to our dumb eyes. I love the nitty-gritty of urban planning with relation to color!
Cheers, Andrew! Yeah, this is such an interesting point: it seems other creatures can 'see' colour in the way we understand it (neurons triggered by wavelengths of light making the visual-related centres in the brain activate) but - do they really see "colours" as we experience them? What does "see" even mean to them? Will there every be any way for us to truly know what butterflies experience with their eight colour channels (octochromacy), compared to our three (trichomacy)? It's one for the philosophers and the scientists and probably a lot of bottles of wine and at least an argument or two...and maybe a few scifi authors will be needed, too.
I love it. It's at the juncture of physics and philosophy, and I can't get enough of that nowadays! Fortunately for us, there is no lack of wonder in the world (promise and peril).
Jul 13, 2023·edited Jul 13, 2023Liked by Mike Sowden
So (if I'm following, which is debatable. More coffee?), blinding white is the most effective color for reflecting heat, but multicolored buildings also help with this? It makes me think about public mural art and whether or not encouraging colorful murals on every building would actually help with energy efficiency?
This is a somewhat selfish question, as I am on the board of our local social justice mural project and we are always looking for ways to convince building owners to host the work. Also, it makes me feel weirdly proud of my very ridiculous lavender and purple house with a big mural on the side (it's not garish! It's energy efficient!).
Yes, I think that's right! With normal paint, white (more specifically, "solar reflective white", as the stuff is often sold) is going to reflect the most visible light and heat, and other colours are going to be a bit warmer. But if a mural's colours are lighter than the underlying wall material is, it's going to help keep that building a little bit cooler. If you're painting light colours onto a dark grey concrete wall, it should make a noticeable difference.
But this is all just with existing everyday paints. Even without the fancy new structural colour layers (which aren't going to be cheap, for now at least), there's plenty that can be done with existing, fairly cheap materials. The CoolRoofs initiative (which is running in NYC) is a good place to get ideas: https://www.energystar.gov/products/cool_roofs_emissivity And maybe someone involved in that work would have some specific suggestions for you, if you dropped them a note? https://nyc-business.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/article/nyc-coolroofs
Long, long overdue. Thank YOU for writing such a great newsletter and being so open with great advice in other channels elsewhere - appreciate how you do things, sir!
Fascinating as always. Maybe this is a stupid question, but what happens to all that heat that's being reflected and allowing the building to stay cool. Wouldn't it build up in the air making it hotter? (This is probably the down side of writing science to those of us who can barely spell it.)
Thanks, Joyce. And you're absolutely right! Yes, this isn't in any way a solution for a warming planet - it should help in reducing energy output and by encouraging scaling back on the fossil fuels that are doing a lot of the warming. The same goes for heat pumps too, which hopefully most airconned homes will be switching to in the near future - they're more efficient and they're emission free, but they're only slowing the problem, not stopping or reversing it. All these measures are short-term and involve moving heat around - which can help prevent dangerous localised buildups, but it's only a tiny part of what needs to happen for overall global temperatures to get into a manageable state...
Mike ... thanks for taking the time to explain that. Seems like a lot of our ingenuity is being spent on short-term fixes with commercial possibilities while the heat blanket grows thicker. What do you see addressing the core issue. ... Sorry, that's probably much too big of a question.
There's a part of the book "Three Body Problem" (or one of the sequels can't remember) where carbon nanotubes are used as weapons to terrifying effect. Don't want to spoil it but it's frighteningly plausible-sounding. Not that I'm a physicist or anything.
Very cool writing, I'm a new fan - I love how you make it accessible with relatable descriptions of the white buildings of Greece (even though I've only ever seen said buildings digitallly), but also you weave in the profoundness of Michio Kaku and some thought-provoking ideas around exploiting natural mimicry and material science for the benefit of society and the environment. Also, it's nice that you're a fellow Brit, but most of all that you seem to display a sort of skeptical optimism; you're willing to question what's around you, but still remain - on the whole - positive, I think that's what science is all about really ... big love from an ex-science student from Manchester, UK 👍❤
Wow it’s amazing you can lower energy costs 30 percent with something as stupid as painting the roof a different color.
What is also stupid is how I wear all black every day 365 days a year even though NYC summers are total swamp zone. But I FEEL cool so that’s what matters right?
Mad, right? Just a lick of paint. But if this leads to a NYT headline "Journalist arrested for trying to paint entire city block white," I refuse to be held responsible. I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE IDEAS, ANNE.
Also, black is eternally cool, except thermodynamically, which doesn't matter.
Phew, thank god we can cool the buildings while keeping them the same color. I wouldn’t trust a white McDonalds, even if it meant their ice cream machine might actually be working for once
Prepare to be creeped out by a few of these: https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/fancy-mcdonalds/
Super cool, and indeed: amazing. I love to remind myself that color is unique to humans, at least insofar as the way we see them. Light is light, but different wavelengths appear different to our dumb eyes. I love the nitty-gritty of urban planning with relation to color!
Cheers, Andrew! Yeah, this is such an interesting point: it seems other creatures can 'see' colour in the way we understand it (neurons triggered by wavelengths of light making the visual-related centres in the brain activate) but - do they really see "colours" as we experience them? What does "see" even mean to them? Will there every be any way for us to truly know what butterflies experience with their eight colour channels (octochromacy), compared to our three (trichomacy)? It's one for the philosophers and the scientists and probably a lot of bottles of wine and at least an argument or two...and maybe a few scifi authors will be needed, too.
I love it. It's at the juncture of physics and philosophy, and I can't get enough of that nowadays! Fortunately for us, there is no lack of wonder in the world (promise and peril).
So (if I'm following, which is debatable. More coffee?), blinding white is the most effective color for reflecting heat, but multicolored buildings also help with this? It makes me think about public mural art and whether or not encouraging colorful murals on every building would actually help with energy efficiency?
This is a somewhat selfish question, as I am on the board of our local social justice mural project and we are always looking for ways to convince building owners to host the work. Also, it makes me feel weirdly proud of my very ridiculous lavender and purple house with a big mural on the side (it's not garish! It's energy efficient!).
Yes, I think that's right! With normal paint, white (more specifically, "solar reflective white", as the stuff is often sold) is going to reflect the most visible light and heat, and other colours are going to be a bit warmer. But if a mural's colours are lighter than the underlying wall material is, it's going to help keep that building a little bit cooler. If you're painting light colours onto a dark grey concrete wall, it should make a noticeable difference.
But this is all just with existing everyday paints. Even without the fancy new structural colour layers (which aren't going to be cheap, for now at least), there's plenty that can be done with existing, fairly cheap materials. The CoolRoofs initiative (which is running in NYC) is a good place to get ideas: https://www.energystar.gov/products/cool_roofs_emissivity And maybe someone involved in that work would have some specific suggestions for you, if you dropped them a note? https://nyc-business.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/article/nyc-coolroofs
I will do more research! Thanks!
Thank you for the shoutout. What a lovely surprise on opening the newsletter this evening.
Long, long overdue. Thank YOU for writing such a great newsletter and being so open with great advice in other channels elsewhere - appreciate how you do things, sir!
Mike, this was great. Thank you. I also really appreciated the links and am excited to learn more about the blue morpho and bird buildings.
Thank you, Mary! So kind of you to say.
And this is a good place to start, courtesy of National Geographic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN7krvnm2uM
Fascinating as always. Maybe this is a stupid question, but what happens to all that heat that's being reflected and allowing the building to stay cool. Wouldn't it build up in the air making it hotter? (This is probably the down side of writing science to those of us who can barely spell it.)
Thanks, Joyce. And you're absolutely right! Yes, this isn't in any way a solution for a warming planet - it should help in reducing energy output and by encouraging scaling back on the fossil fuels that are doing a lot of the warming. The same goes for heat pumps too, which hopefully most airconned homes will be switching to in the near future - they're more efficient and they're emission free, but they're only slowing the problem, not stopping or reversing it. All these measures are short-term and involve moving heat around - which can help prevent dangerous localised buildups, but it's only a tiny part of what needs to happen for overall global temperatures to get into a manageable state...
Mike ... thanks for taking the time to explain that. Seems like a lot of our ingenuity is being spent on short-term fixes with commercial possibilities while the heat blanket grows thicker. What do you see addressing the core issue. ... Sorry, that's probably much too big of a question.
Not at all! But I'm probably not the best person to ask, as my knowledge of this stuff is wooly as well.
But the main thing seems to be the world's use of fossil fuels: https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/to-counter-climate-change-we-need-to-stop-burning-things And some of that necessary change will come from political pressure, some of it consumer pressure - and everything that rebels against doomism, apathy, cynicism and fatalism: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/23/stop-global-catastrophe-believe-humans-again-geoengineering and https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-61495035
Thanks, Mike ... I'm about to enter a Climate Steward program so I'll check out those resources.
Well, in that case, I have zero doubt you'll know a lot more than me about this stuff in no time! Please let me know how it goes.
But if you're wanting a general guide to staying hopeful and motivated in troubling times, I can recommend Rebecca Solnit's "Hope In The Dark": https://www.waterstones.com/book/hope-in-the-dark/rebecca-solnit/9781782119074
That's probably exactly what I need. Motivated, yes; hopeful, not so much. Thanks again.
There's a part of the book "Three Body Problem" (or one of the sequels can't remember) where carbon nanotubes are used as weapons to terrifying effect. Don't want to spoil it but it's frighteningly plausible-sounding. Not that I'm a physicist or anything.
Oh, thank you - I haven't got to that trilogy yet! I'll look out for it when I do...
Very cool writing, I'm a new fan - I love how you make it accessible with relatable descriptions of the white buildings of Greece (even though I've only ever seen said buildings digitallly), but also you weave in the profoundness of Michio Kaku and some thought-provoking ideas around exploiting natural mimicry and material science for the benefit of society and the environment. Also, it's nice that you're a fellow Brit, but most of all that you seem to display a sort of skeptical optimism; you're willing to question what's around you, but still remain - on the whole - positive, I think that's what science is all about really ... big love from an ex-science student from Manchester, UK 👍❤
Protecting from fire with a reflective foil: I didn't know about buildings, but the method works for giant sequoias:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/us/sequoia-trees-fire.html
I have no idea what this means, Chayanan, but thank you anyway!