White Washing follow up

Okay, so this was kinda funky and strange.... I just wrote about the idea of being forced to paint roofs white in a bid to reflect heat back away from the earth, like what is being done and considered in at least California..... when lo and behold, Sunday night's edition of Extreme Makeover Home Addition showed what the installation of a reflective roofing system can be like.

This was done on a Texas home and the reflective roofing surface was SO incredibly hot, they had to put the roof on LAST and do it at NIGHT. You can VIEW THE CLIP HERE and move the toggle to about 2:36 into the program. It's just a short blurb on this particular clip, and you'll hear them talk of how it's a great system, however the heat coming off it was reflected straight at the roofers and they could not put it in during the day. For the first time ever, the team had to put a roof on LAST, after the walls and rooms were ready.

So here are my thoughts - if the heat being reflected is directly heating the immediate surrounding area, what is that going to be like all day long? What is it going to be like if you have this kind of roofing on everything eventually? What about low buildings next to higher buildings - is the heat from the low roof going to reflect at the sides of higher ones all day long, every day? What effect could that have? In my previous post, a geologist spoke of concern that the heat from these surfaces could end up causing people to have to stay indoors during the day.... and after seeing that Extreme Makeover program, I can imagine that happening.

Another thought - if people are forced to change their roofs to these kinds of surfaces, or at least all new homes, they could end up having a higher bill if night-installation is needed (labour cost), special coverings for the home until the roof can be installed (to protect the inner walls, etc from the elements), special lighting for the night-installers, etc. Is the govt going to pay those costs? Doubtful. Maybe a small tax credit that you get eons after dishing out thousands of dollars - but that would be it. So it's just something to think about. Extreme Makeover Home Edition could not install this roof during the day, it was right there on television for millions of people to see even if it was only a short clip. Yet this may very well be forced on people in California and elsewhere... what's up with that?? Will it be too hot to even daytime install during spring/fall/winter? These are issues that need to be considered before forcing people to make these changes out of pocket in a bid to 'save the planet'. We could very well do the biggest screw-up since the Environmental movement cheered us on about plastic bags (remember, that was done to Save The Trees).