KTR wants 300 Sq Km of buildings to be covered under Cool Roof Policy

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government made an innovative step in order to make the state more thermally comfortable and heat resilient.

K.T. Rama Rao, Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Minister, inaugurated the 'Telangana Cool Roof Policy 2023-2028' in Hyderabad on Monday.

The Minister discussed the benefits of the policy, which intended to reduce heat island impact and heat stress. KTR said that the policy has long term objectives which would be of use to future generations.

Telangana is the third most urbanised state in the nation, with nearly half of the population living in cities, so there was an urgent need to implement cost-effective and environmentally friendly cooling solutions to combat the urban heat island effect.

Telangana is the first state in the nation to implement a cool roof policy, which was an important step towards addressing future climate challenges. The policy encourages and promotes the usage of cool roofs. These roofs reflect some of the sun’s incoming radiation back into the atmosphere thus reducing heat retention and cooling indoor spaces.

Speaking about the ambitious target the State set, KTR said, “By 2030, 200 square kilometers in Hyderabad and 100 square kilometers in the rest of the State will be brought under cool roofing. In comparison, the target set by New York was to cover 10 lakh square feet or 0.1 square kilometers. Further, he said that the area under Outer Ring Road was over 1,000 square kilometers and that about 20 percent of the area inside ORR will be brought under cool roofing. The Minister added that the State government’s ambition was to implement it in government housing schemes, government offices, roads, pavements, and cycling tracks".

On the occasion, KTR urged builders and individuals who construct buildings to take it up. Cool roofing can be implemented by using paints, tiles or other materials to reflect sunlight. It can be retrofitted in existing buildings. Recalling his conversation with tiles and paints companies representatives, KTR said that people can recover their investment in cool roofing within two years, in the form of energy savings and others. The minister said that campaigns would be taken up to explain to people the benefits of cool roofs.

Recalling the state government’s commitment towards environment conservation, KTR said that Telangana was the first State to adopt Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) in 2014, the state government implemented Haritha Haaram and encouraged usage of energy efficient machines and systems. Also, the Minister spoke to the officials about incentivising urban farming and roof top kitchens.