Three decades ago, long before cool roof systems had become a commonplace concept in energy efficiency research, a small elementary school on Florida's Space Coast provided one of the earliest field demonstrations that painting could reduce the power costs of a structure. This school was Our Savior's Elementary School in Cocoa Beach and its study, which spanned two years, is commonly considered to be among the earliest field demonstrations of reflective roofs.
The school's roof was unremarkable at the start: an unexceptional 10,000-square-foot roof of gray modified bitumen over a plywood substrate, with a solar reflectance of only 23%, according to the Florida Solar Energy Center's baseline monitoring. Researchers on the 'Demonstration of Cooling Savings of Light Colored Roof Surfacing in Florida Commercial Buildings' project monitored the school's thermal performance for a full year before and after the roof was coated, tracking roof and ceiling temperatures, weather conditions, and the electricity use of the chiller and air handlers. The initial year was crucial for the research. Without that year of data, there wouldn't be a way to distinguish between the effect produced by the roof coating and any particular mild summer season.
