Experimental Investigation on Aging and Energy Savings Evaluation of High Solar Reflective Index (SRI) Paints: A Case Study on Residential Households in the GCC Region

Energy-efficient retrofitting of building envelopes is necessary to reduce global carbon emissions and to reach net-zero goals. Cooling energy demand-dominated countries in the GCC region require simple and effective strategies to reduce building sector energy loads. One such approach is using high solar reflective index (SRI) paints to retrofit building roofs and walls. However, the hot and desert conditions of the region pose a barrier to maintaining consistent radiative properties throughout their life cycle. To this extent, research is limited in the region. The novelty of this work is to qualitatively assess the aging characteristics of high SRI or cool paints and estimate the energy savings for their application in residential buildings. The work encompasses comprehensive lab, pilot, and real-scale experimental studies combined with theoretical modeling for dynamic evaluation. Dynamic simulations enabled to determine the time-dependent aging effect on the energy savings performance of the building retrofitted with cool roof and wall paints. A case study on a townhouse in UAE showed annual energy savings of 34% considering cool roofs, walls, and window films. Aging studies showed SRI reduction of 36% and 25%, respectively, for cool roofs and walls during the first 3 years. The corresponding energy-saving reductions ranged from 31 to 44% for the white roof to dark wall colors. Using the initial values of SRI in energy models overestimates saving by 10% per year. Considering the aging effects, this work provides insights into cool paint retrofit potential on energy, economic savings, and CO₂ reductions for four major cities in the GCC region.