If a building does NOT have insulation, using a standard off-the-shelf white paint (White 16) or a solar reflective paint CAN improve comfort within a building during a hot summer day but not in cold winter climates (Solar Reflective Coatings “MAY” slightly outperform standard white paint, BUT in this video, it was not the case). White paint helps drastically in dealing with heat from the sun; ceramic Solar Reflective paints do NOT add a measurable difference to the performance of your building. If your building has no insulation, consider using conventional insulation.
If there is insulation, consider the below retrofits:
- Repairing sarking/foil that is torn and ripped under a tin roof with foil tape.
- Fix up gaps in the insulation on your ceiling.
- Paint your roof with an external white or light-coloured roof.
Understand that real energy-efficiency performance is achieved by improving airtightness and ensuring that insulation is abutted consistently to this air barrier throughout the building envelope.
A solar reflective coating does NOT meaningfully improve energy efficiency for cooling over a standard white (white 16) coloured paint if your ceiling is consistently insulated and airtight. Even if the ceiling isn’t consistently insulated, solar reflective paint does NOT lower the roof area temperature enough to make a quantifiable difference of a standard white paint. Some of these Ceramic Solar Thermal Radiant Coating products may offer better durability and longevity than standard white paint, which may add significant value to an asset. Ensure the supplier provides evidence of this.
Some research papers covering solar reflective paints can be found here.
https://nrcawebstorage.blob.core.windows.net/files/staticcontent/masterpages/technical/symposium/pdf/04_brehob_paper.pdf
https://energy-seal.com/wp-content/uploads/Department-of-Energy-study-on-Ceramic-vs-non-ceramic-roof-coatings.pdf
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