The role of CRRC product ratings in enhancing community resilience

By Emma Peterson. 

The Cool Roof Rating Council is simplifying access to cool surface performance data that can help us build healthier cities. 

Our built environment is heating up and with that comes health and energy resilience issues in our communities. In fact, an article by Beatriz Cardenas, Shazabe Akhtar and Beth Elliott in the World Resources Institute reported some sobering statistics – there are roughly 489,000 deaths globally that are due to extreme heat exposure. In one extreme heat wave in 2022, Europe saw more than 60,000 heat-related deaths occur.  

These deaths can be attributed to the heat itself, which leads to health risks like heat-sickness, but also the rippling effects of the heat – such as an increased ground-level air pollution. Beatriz, Shazabe and Beth’s article explained that “The combination of high temperatures and stagnant air created during heat waves makes people more vulnerable to severe health impacts [to everything from the brain and the eyes to reproductive organs and lungs] and urban infrastructure more susceptible to degradation.” 

So, what can be done to lower the temperature in our built environment and protect our communities? Build with cooling in mind. The Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, explains, “Cool roofs and walls have an important role in combating [rising urban heat]. Due to their ability to reflect heat back into the atmosphere, installing reflective materials on buildings decreases the building’s surface temperature, as well as temperatures inside the building.” 

Providing objective, scientific information about cool surfaces is the entire mission of the CRRC. And one of the big ways they work towards that mission is by maintaining product rating programs.  

The CRRC has two programs – one for roof ratings and one for wall ratings. Within both of these programs, companies that want their products listed and labelled with their radiative property performance can become a CRRC Licensee. Once they have become a Licensee and submitted a product rating application, the product is sent for testing by an Accredited Independent Testing Laboratory (AITL). After this round of initial testing, the product ratings are reviewed by the CRRC and published on the publicly-accessible CRRC Rated Products Directory, and the product will be sent to a CRRC Approved Test Farm “where it will be exposed to outdoor weathering for three years.” Once this is completed, the aged product ratings will be added to the listing on the directory. 

The CRRC recently made enhancements to its Online Rating Portal, where manufacturers manage their product rating applications, to integrate the Wall Rating Program into the Portal. This integration is designed to “streamline the process to obtain wall product ratings and provide a one-stop shop for managing roof and wall ratings, plus CRRC membership, all in one place.” 

Contractors, home and building owners, and other end-users can access CRRC Roof and Wall Product Ratings at coolroofs.org/directory. Manufacturers interested in obtaining CRRC product ratings can learn more here or contact the CRRC. 

Learn more about cool surface products!