New in our Toolkits: How to Search for Cool-Wall Materials (and Earn SSpc154)

Climate change is searing us with localized heat waves, and the planet recently reached its highest-ever average temperature—a record that was immediately broken and is sure to be broken again and again in the near future.

As Earth heats up, passive strategies like cool roofs are increasingly urgent—especially since the most vulnerable among us are also the most likely to suffer or even die because of the compounding impacts of heat islands.

LEED has addressed heat islands by incentivizing cool roofs and other measures for decades, but a more recent pilot credit incentivizing cool walls (SSpc154) has flown a bit under the radar. Now the nonprofit Cool Roof Rating Council has developed a fact sheet for LEEDuser about its Rated Wall Products Directory.

The tool helps those seeking third-party-verified products that can contribute to this somewhat novel strategy, helping project teams enhance neighborhood resilience, reduce mechanical cooling loads, and earn Pilot Credit SSpc154.