In an effort to finally beat the heat, the city of Los Angeles is painting its streets white with CoolSeal, a product created by GuardTop. Dark colored asphalt absorbs between 80% and 95% of the sun’s rays that routinely heat the LA streets to a whopping 150 degrees. With the light coated streets the heat can be reduced by an average of 10 to 15 degrees.
This innovative white seal coat is applied on the roads by a truck followed by a team of city workers that then evenly distribute the seal in two coats across the surface, a bout 50 microns thick.
The LA Street Services started the project last May which testing has confirmed that the coating reduces the temperature of roadways by up to 10 degrees. The mayor’s office hopes to have a 3 degree difference in all over temperature by the year 2019. The white coating has also passed the California skid test in addition to the slip test for wet traction.
According to the Washington Post, CoolSeal’s original use was for the military. It was used to conceal grounded airplanes from apy aircraft using infrared cameras.
“CoolSeal is applied like conventional sealcoats to asphalt surfaces to protect and maintain the quality and longevity of the surface,” according to the company website. “While most cool pavements on the market are polymer based, CoolSeal is a water-based, asphalt emulsion.”
The white seal coating can last for up to seven years without needing repair, but it’s expensive. Just one mile of this coating costs $40,000! As well as creating a cooler streets, the coating will also help save on air conditioning costs and could even help reduce the effects of climate change.