Is it better to have high albedo and low conductivity or low albedo and high conductivity to prevent heat islands and stabilize the microclimate?
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Hello @linda
Sorry for the delay on this. @coachdarionziegler will be able to help with this question.
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Hi @linda ,
Is this a question from Ballast or some other resource? I did a quick search and noticed that someone had askes the exact same thing on the NCARB ARE 5.0 Community awhile back. Maybe reading through this discussion will help!
https://are5community.ncarb.org/hc/en-us/community/posts/360048637533-Albedo-Confusion-
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Really, I think it depends what you are trying to achieve. Either high albedo materials or green space can help reduce heat islands. Low conductivity materials will not absorb heat. Just remember, if you want to use a high albedo material just make sure it’s not reflecting the heat at something.
However, if you are in a cold climate you might want low albedo materials to help warm things up! More conductive materials will collect and give off heat.
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hi, did you by chance get a straight answer if the conductivity needs to be low or high to reduce the heat island ? appreciated @linda
Here is from EPA web , not sure it needs to be low or high
"Thermal Conductivity. Pavement with low thermal conductivity may heat up at the surface but will not transfer that heat throughout the other pavement layers as quickly as the pavement with higher conductivity. "