Professor Xiulin Ruan and PhD student Joseph Peoples use an infrared camera to compare the cooling performance of white paint samples on a rooftop.
Purdue University photo/Jared Pike.
Professor Xiulin Ruan and PhD student Joseph Peoples use an infrared camera to compare the cooling performance of white paint samples on a rooftop.
Purdue University photo/Jared Pike.
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What if paint could cool off a building enough to avoid the need to air-condition it?
Purdue engineers have created white paint that can keep surfaces up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than their ambient surroundings like a refrigerator, but without consuming energy.
An infrared camera image shows that white radiative cooling paint developed by Purdue University researchers (left, purple) can stay cooler in direct sunlight compared with commercial white paint.
Purdue University image/Joseph Peoples
This story was covered by top news media, such as MSN, BBC News, CNET and Science, and was reported in many countries in different languages. Researchers’ students created this image to show the story’s global impact.