This report summarizes paving materials suitable for urban streets, driveways, parking lots and walkways. We evaluate materials for their abilities to reflect sunlight, which will reduce their temperatures. This in turn reduces the excess air temperature of cities (the “heat island” effect). The report presents the compositions of the materials, their suitability for particular applications, and their approximate costs (in 1996). Both new and resurfacing are described. We conclude that, although light-colored materials may be more expensive than conventional black materials, a thin layer of light-colored pavement may produce energy savings and smog reductions whose long-term worth is greater than the extra cost.

Chen, A., H. Akbari, H. Taha, A.H. Rosenfeld , and M. Pomerantz . “Paving Materials for Heat Island Mitigation .” Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Heat Island Group . (1997).