Proceedings of the Workshop on Cool Building Materials

A workshop to discuss the need for a national program on "cool building materials" was held on February 28, 1994. The participants included representatives of building materials trade associations and others interested in conservation of energy and the environment. After being briefed on "cool building materials" (i.e. materials that, as a result of their high reflectivity in the visible and near infrared, remain relatively cool when exposed to solar radiation), on the Administration's Cool Communities Program, and on the Civil Engineering Research Foundation's High- Performance, Construction Materials and Systems Program, the participants' were asked to address questions such as, Is there a need for a national program on cool building materials? And if so, what should be the objective and how should it be planned? At the end of the workshop, it was agreed that there was a need for a national program on cool building materials and that industry and designers should be involved in the planning. The objectives should be, essentially, to ensure that information on cool building materials is available to designers, maintenance personnel, regulatory authorities, and others who need it to make decisions on cool buildings. It was also agreed that an open meeting and workshop should be held before the end of July, 1994 to brief a larger group from industry on the need and to seek their help in establishing a national program. NIST was asked to chair an industry/government steering committee to organize the meeting and workshop and draft an outline of a national program.