U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Federal Energy Management Program

New and Underutilized Technology: Colored Paint

The following information outlines key deployment considerations for colored paints within the Federal sector. This information spans:

• Benefits
• Application
• Key Factors for Deployment
• Ranking Criteria
• Resources

Benefits

Colored paints have the potential to optimize heat reflective properties or decrease heat absorptive applications. New technologies allow the paint to be any color within the visible spectrum with either the absorptive or the reflective properties optimized for specific applications (disassociating it from the traditional color properties).

Application

Colored paints are appropriate for deployment within most building categories.

Key Factors for Deployment

Colored paint technologies and applications have come quite far. One application example for colored paints is to reduce the heat load on a wall receiving significant solar radiation.

Ranking Criteria

Federal energy savings, cost-effectiveness, and probability of success are ranked 0-5 with 0 representing the lowest ranking and 5 representing the highest ranking. The weighted score is ranked 0-100 with 0 representing the lowest ranking and 100 representing the highest ranking.

Resources

The following resources are available:

• Energy Savings for Exterior Walls Coated with Cool Colors: Summary of an Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) report on colored paint applications for exterior walls.

• Energy Savings for Stucco Walls Coated with Cool Colors: Summary of an Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) report on colored paint applications for stucco walls.

• Field Tests of Cool Walls in Cooling and Mixed Climates: ORNL presentation originally presented in October 2005.