The Bureau of Street Services of Los Angeles recently tested their new light-colored cooling seal in the Valley. This is a citywide effort to cool down asphalt temperatures, which rise to scorching levels during hot days. The reflective surface seal, which is gray in color, can be found in Canoga Park.

Image courtesy of LA Street Services Twitter

The experiment is an attempt to battle the heat island effect, which causes the temperature in metropolitan areas to heat up significantly higher than nearby rural communities. The new cooling strategy is expected to lower pavement temperature by up to 30 degrees, subdue temperatures in nearby buildings, help against air pollution, and fight heat-related threats.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent report noted that lowering the temperatures of street pavements could ultimately help against LA’s steadily rising climate. The document suggests that heat absorbed by black asphalt during daytime hours is released at night, resulting in higher temperatures. However, reflective paint can not only lower air temperatures by one degree Fahrenheit, it can also save the city an annual amount of $100 million on energy.

Select pavements in all 15 of LA’s council districts will be coated with the new cooling surface by the end of June. If these trials are successful, officials are prepared to develop a large-scale plan for the surface coolant, which currently lasts about seven years.