Take the heat out of steel roofs
LEHMANN Pacific Solar has launched a new roof coating called SkyCool that it claims can lower the inside temperature of steel-roofed buildings.
CEO Rex Lehmann says SkyCool is a water based, non-toxic coating that is sprayed onto the exterior of the roof.
He said while there were other products that claimed to partially reduce the impact of solar radiation on the interior of the building, SkyCool had been demonstrated to actually reduce internal temperatures below ambient shade temperature.
Tests conducted by the University of Technology Sydney and the Queensland University of Technology have identified the technology that lies at the heart of SkyCool.
Mr Lehmann said the tests identified that the cooling effect was achieved by exploiting a natural "safety window" in the atmosphere whereby SkyCool's radiant heat passed through the atmosphere directly into space.
This unique property meant that, under most circumstances, SkyCool could eliminate the intense solar heat load experienced by metal-roofed buildings.
In addition the combined convective and radiative properties mean a steel roof coated with SkyCool can cool interiors during the night as well as the day.
Mr. Lehmann said that to prove the above tests, a major national supermarket chain recently completed a 12-month trial employing two supermarkets approximately the same size and in close proximity.
One was treated with SkyCool and the other left untreated.
He said that the results of this trial showed that the SkyCool coated building's air conditioning power consumption for most of the year was 50% less than that of the uncoated building.
16-Jul-2003