New Berkeley Lab study uses regional climate model to compare heat waves to normal summer conditions.
It is well established that white roofs can help mitigate the urban heat island effect, reflecting the sun’s energy back into space and reducing a city’s temperature under normal weather conditions. In a new study of Guangzhou, China, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers working with Chinese scientists found that during a heat wave, the effect is significantly more pronounced.(more…)
*Energy use intensity is down; sustainability plan would reduce it even further.*
There’s an old saying that the cobbler’s children have no shoes. But at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, whose scientists have pioneered many of the energy efficiency technologies being deployed around the world today, energy conservation is not neglected at home. In fact, a number of homegrown energy-savings technologies are in use at the Lab itself, allowing Berkeley Lab to substantially reduce its energy use intensity and make headway towards achieving significant cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions.
From cool roofs to automated building controls to advanced lighting systems, the Lab has implemented an assortment of measures which has resulted in a 44 percent decline in energy use intensity, or energy usage per square foot, since 1985. And greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Berkeley Lab facilities have shrunk by about 5 percent over the last two years. (more…)
