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L.A. County moves to mandate energy-savings roofs in unincorporated areas

by The AV Times Staff • August 3, 2017

Cool roofs are made of highly reflective materials and absorb less heat than conventional roofs, dropping indoor and ambient temperatures.

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to take the first step toward an ordinance that would require energy-saving “cool roofs” on new construction in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, including Quartz Hill, Littlerock and Lake Los Angeles.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said local and state governments need to lead on environmental issues.

“Cool roofs are an innovative way to lower temperatures and reduce energy consumption,” Kuehl said, calling the ordinance a “smart, forward-looking step that we must take to protect our environment for future generations.”

Cool roofs are made of highly reflective materials and absorb less heat than conventional roofs, dropping indoor and ambient temperatures.

Asphalt roofs and roads concentrated in a metropolitan area create an “urban heat island effect,” pushing temperatures area-wide.

The motion cited a 2015 UCLA report predicting that by 2050, parts of the county will experience up to three to four times the annual number of extreme heat days with temperatures at or above 95 degrees.

Standard or dark roofs can reach summer temperatures of 150 degrees or more, while a cool roof in the same conditions could stay more than 50 degrees cooler, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Lower temperatures mean less smog and less energy consumption.

The newer technology can save buildings owners an average of 7-15 percent on cooling costs, according to the Cool Roof Rating Council.

Energy rebates may also be negotiated by the county.

The city of Los Angeles enacted a cool roofing ordinance in 2014 and Sonoma and Contra Costa counties also have such ordinances.

The process of drafting an ordinance will include engaging environmentalists, building and roofing industry members, labor organizations and others to solicit feedback.

A draft is expected in four months.

–

Filed Under: Littlerock, Politics

8 comments for "L.A. County moves to mandate energy-savings roofs in unincorporated areas"

  1. calirorniaIsRetar says

    August 4, 2017 at 9:25 am

    The state eventually will take out 99% of my paycheck.

    • William says

      August 4, 2017 at 10:37 am

      Great! Then you’ll be in the 1%. Good goin’.

    • Tim Scott says

      August 4, 2017 at 11:23 am

      Suuuuuuure they will. Ya know, my dad used to make that same prediction. Never happened to him either.

  2. Zena says

    August 3, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    … your policy community aberranced a 20 point IQ deficit, you can be certain what you’ll inevitably get will be, slapdash policy. Ideally, nothing society does should ever be reflected, back into our atmosphere. We need contemporary roofing substrates which absorb or adsorb, not reflect. For Earth’s carbon and hydrologic cycles, an 80% mean albedo would prove fatal for Earth’s mammals. Your signal indication of an impending environmental cataclysm will be (1) your amphibians are now extinct, and (2) your rice production was just wiped out. Why? It was because you wanted free air conditioning, stupid!

  3. 1o dog says

    August 3, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    Been here all my life, 75 years but need to get out of this State now and leave it to all the liberal s.

  4. Tim Scott says

    August 3, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    So, who is heavily invested in cool roof materials? Reminds me of when the state mandated anti-siphon valves without considering that for everyone to comply it would have consumed every anti-siphon valve that had been manufactured in the prior three decades.

    • George Keller says

      August 3, 2017 at 7:07 pm

      Or…which one of the Supervisors has interest or relatives in the “cool roof” field? I remember when metal roofing materials were banned in the new construction because of its reflective properties. Something about airplanes. Perhaps it is just heat reflecting not light reflecting. Either way, between the roofing, mandated fire sprinklers high permit costs and minimum requirements for windows and insulation, its going to cost you more and more to build.

      • Tim Scott says

        August 4, 2017 at 11:28 am

        That was kind of the point. After the great anti-siphon valve requirement was enacted and the realization struck that there were no valves available anywhere it turned out that one guy had “had the foresight” to establish a manufacturing operation in China that blasted out junk that didn’t even work but was listed as meeting the requirements…they cost ten times what they’d have been worth if they had worked, and he sold them as fast as the container ships could haul them in because you couldn’t get a building through final inspection without them.

        The guy was related to the state assemblyman who proposed this “public safety measure.”

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