THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Grappling with increasing heat stress, Kerala is all set to come up with a cool roof policy. With this, Kerala will be the second state in the country after Telangana to introduce the cool roof policy, which promotes indoor cooling strategies and empowers local self-government institutions (LSGIs) and other agencies in implementing effective heat mitigation solutions.
Energy Management Centre (EMC) director R Harikumar told TNIE that the draft cool roof policy is nearing completion and will be submitted to the state government by June. He said the EMC, as part of promoting cool roofing solutions, launched a comprehensive campaign — ‘Kulirma’ — this year to promote the use of white, reflective rooftop paint with a high Solar Reflective Index (SRI) to reduce heat inside buildings. “We launched this campaign in all 140 assembly constituencies.
Our goal is to transform 500 million square feet of roof area in the state into cool roofs. We piloted the project in anganwadis across five panchayats in Thiruvananthapuram, and studies showed that the reflective paint improves thermal comfort, prevents heat-related illnesses and enhances energy efficiency. It also helps mitigate the ‘urban heat island effect’ and lowers carbon footprints,” said Harikumar.
Telangana had introduced the cool roof policy in 2023, which mandates cool roofs for government, commercial, and residential buildings (with plots of 600 sq yards or more) to address ‘urban heat island effect’ and reduce energy consumption. Harikumar said a policy with guidelines will help LSGIs and other government agencies implement cool roofing.
Govt to finalise policy before next summer
“During the campaign period, cool roofing initiatives will be implemented in government buildings, anganawadis and hospitals. The government will be finalising the policy before next summer. Once it’s finalised, it will be easy for government agencies to mobilise funds for carrying out cool roofing,” said Harikumar.
WRI India, a knowledge partner working towards the execution of India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), is doing a study on implementing cool roofing and other methods to reduce heat in houses constructed under the LIFE Mission scheme. Suraj Shaji, CEO of Life Mission, said they are yet to get the report from WRI India.
“Our technical team is also exploring the possibility of reducing heat in houses constructed under LIFE Mission. If the study is feasible we will implement the new recommendations in future projects,” he said.