The Department of Buildings, New York City Service, Con Edison and the City University of New York have launched the NYC Cool Roofs Program, a citywide program to help reduce cooling costs, energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions by applying reflective, white coating to rooftops.
The program is a partnership between public and private organizations, non-profit groups and building owners and is a component of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative, the city’s comprehensive sustainability plan reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2030. NYC Cool Roofs is designed to cool one million sq ft of rooftop. In 2009, Mayor Bloomberg and former Vice President Al Gore first announced a pilot program for NYC Cool Roofs with NYC Service volunteers, who coated 100,000 sq ft of rooftop over a two-week period in Queens.