Sep 10
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Montreal mayor to legislate roof colour
CBC News: CBC The National – August 31, 2010
White-roofs law would help cool Earth: prof
Mayor of Montreal borough proposes bylaw requiring white roofs
All new roofs would be white under a Montreal borough’s proposed bylaw aimed at taking advantage of a white roof’s cooling effects. Mayor François Croteau of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie wants to make white roofs mandatory on new buildings. Roofs requiring repairs would have to be painted white as well. Croteau’s idea is supported by a Concordia University engineering professor, who says all the world’s roofs should be changed to cooling colours. “Ten metres squared of white roof is equivalent, in cooling the globe, the equivalent to one tonne of [carbon dioxide],” Prof. Hashem Akbari says. Akbari is trying to persuade 100 of the world’s largest cities to switch to light-coloured roofs. Changing all the roofs in the world would be equal to getting rid of all the world’s cars for 20 years, he says.
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