The Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC) has released a new Cool Surfaces Toolkit microsite featuring informational resources about solar-reflective “cool” roofs, exterior walls, and pavements. The Cool Surfaces Toolkit is accessible at coolrooftoolkit.org.
The purpose of the toolkit site is to provide a collection of educational content for members of the general public and practitioners such as architecture and design professionals; policy and program developers; roofing and construction contractors; teachers and educators; and more. It offers streamlined access to educational briefs, videos, courses, and other publications separate from the CRRC’s primary website, coolroofs.org. It also includes a blog and hosts A Practical Guide to Cool Roofs and Cool Pavements: Primer, which was developed by the Global Cool Cities Alliance to provide detailed guidance on the use of cool roof and pavement materials.
A standout feature of the site is the Cool Surfaces Knowledge Base, a repository for cool surfaces and heat island information from around the world. The knowledge base catalogues over 650 peer-reviewed research and technical studies; codes, standards, policies, and laws; government reports; case studies and demonstration projects; and sample program documents and implementation frameworks. It is updated regularly to include new publications. The knowledge base is searchable and can be filtered by a variety of criteria, including open access availability.
“Our hope for the microsite is that it opens doors for new audiences to utilize and benefit from the CRRC’s extensive collection of scientifically supported educational resources. There is something for everyone who has an interest in enhancing resilience to extreme heat, whether they are a teacher looking for classroom materials, a policymaker in need of answers, or a seasoned design professional,” says CRRC Communications Manager Audrey McGarrell. According to Kurt Shickman, Chair of the CRRC Education Committee and Ex-officio CRRC Board member, “The CRRC draws on experts from across industry and academia to produce high-quality, balanced, and accurate educational materials. The new microsite is a fantastic and intuitive way to find all of that knowledge and insight.”
The Cool Surfaces Toolkit is designed to make trusted, science-based information on cool roofs, walls, and pavements more accessible to a broad range of audiences. Additional materials and updates will continue to be added over time as they become available. The site is now publicly available at coolrooftoolkit.org.
The CRRC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that develops fair, accurate, and credible methods for evaluating and labeling the radiative properties of roofing and exterior wall products. The CRRC’s mission is to bring objective, scientific information related to cool surfaces to critical discussions and informed decisions about the impacts of heat islands, extreme heat, and energy use in the built environment. Please contact the CRRC at or (866) 465-2523 for more information on its programs.