The Revolutionary New Paint That Can Reduce Building Temperatures

As temperatures rise, home and business owners are doing what they can to keep buildings cooler. You may want to crank up the air conditioner to full blast, but that is an HVAC mistake to avoid in the extreme heat. Instead, look into other methods for keeping your home cool, such as opening windows in the morning, turning on ceiling fans, and keeping blinds closed to block out the warm sunlight. Researchers are constantly coming up with new innovations to bring down the heat. One such invention is cooling exterior paint, which is designed to directly lower indoor temperatures through solar reflection.

Aside from knowing how to cool your room without air conditioning, it's worth investigating possible home modifications. Historically, this includes changing the color of your home's exterior if you have a darker color as it retains heat and can warm up the inside of your house. Painting the outside of your house is not an easy (or inexpensive) task, though. Hiring a company to do the job can cost anywhere from $1,500 to over $12,000, depending on where you live and the size of your home. 

Cooling paint is a novel product that could reduce building temperatures anywhere from 10 to 36 degrees. According to Sustainability Times, this product was designed with a team of global researchers spearheaded by the University of Texas-Austin, as well as artificial intelligence. The intention is to apply the paint to the outside of buildings to throw back solar radiation, which would lower temperatures directly. In theory, the product could become valuable for urban areas with a lot of infrastructure, as well as individual homes outside of cities.

Despite all its potential benefits, cooling paint is not a mainstream product yet. If it does hit the market, there's a good chance the product will be expensive because it is new technology. In the meantime, there are other ways you can work with paint to lower the temperature in your own home. Aside from cooler-toned exterior paint colors, consider repainting the inside of your home if your walls have darker hues. Remember darker colors retain heat. Cooler, or softer, tones reflect light better. This can even brighten your room, reducing the need to turn on the lights, which can make your home feel warmer. For inspiration, check out how cool blues are back, and how you can keep them warm and inviting. Adjusting paint colors can complement other cooling strategies. And you won't have to keep your AC running all day.