Last year, the City of Phoenix partnered with Arizona State University (ASU) to launch the Cool Pavement Pilot Program, designed to cool down city streets and local neighborhoods. After applying CoolSeal by GuardTop to nine locations across Phoenix, researchers discovered an impressive 10.5-to 12-degree Fahrenheit reduction in average surface temperatures. On October 20, 2021, the City of Phoenix began the next phase of the program, which involves applying new CoolSeal products to more neighborhoods in South Phoenix, and Phoenix cable station PHX11 got the scoop in this recent news story:
As featured on PHX11, the goal of the second phase of the program is to analyze two new asphalt coatings with higher reflective values, and to determine the durability of those coatings. One of the CoolSeal asphalt treatments is the same light gray color as the treatment used in the first phase of the program, and the other treatment is slightly darker gray. Both formulas were designed to reflect the sun’s heat to keep the street surface from trapping heat and releasing it slowly at night. GuardTop Sustainability Project Manager Davis Koleas discussed this exciting new CoolSeal innovation with PHX11.
“We have two versions of the product out here, we have a light gray version and a version that’s a little bit darker gray, but it has some solar-reflective pigmentation in the product, so even though it’s darker than our traditional gray, it’s still getting a very high solar reflectance, and we’re getting about a 10-degree difference compared to the black asphalt,” he explained.
CoolSeal’s innovation began about eight years ago, when GuardTop found a need from customers searching for solutions to urban heat mitigation. “CoolSeal is designed to do everything that a traditional black asphalt does, but in addition, it cools down the surface and ambient temperatures,” said Koleas.
According to Mayor Kate Gallego, the City of Phoenix is the ideal candidate for CoolSeal’s innovation, as she told PHX11.
“We believe Phoenix is the right place to come up with solutions to heat-related problems,” she said. “This is an example of innovative technology that works and makes our communities more comfortable, helps us combat climate change, and shows we’re solution-focused.”
The City of Phoenix’s Office of Heat Response & Mitigation Director, Dr. David Hondula, agreed, as he shared with PHX11.
“The [Office of Heat Response & Mitigation] is going to try to catalyze similar innovation across the department, finding opportunities like this one where we can, at low or no cost, pilot new strategies that could produce real benefits for residents.”
ASU researchers will continue investigating the use of CoolSeal’s cool pavement innovation during this second phase of the program.
“It’s an exciting milestone for our city,” said Mayor Gallego. “We’ve had the largest pilot in the country, and now it’s official, it’s a permanent program that will spread throughout our city and make Phoenix a little bit more comfortable.”
