Just a great idea and one that will be deeply appreciated during our long hot summers.
Losing their cool
Automakers sweat plan for special paint, windows
By Jim Downing - jdowning@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Friday, November 9, 2007
To fight global warming, state regulators want new cars to work like anti-greenhouses.
In vehicles with sun-shielding windows and specially treated paint, the thinking goes, drivers will use their air conditioners less. That will save fuel and cut carbon dioxide emissions.
But automakers are sweating about the plan. They contend that controls on paint or glass will hobble designers and drive up costs.
On a hot day, so-called "cool coatings" can reduce the air temperature in a parked car by more than 17 degrees, according to a federal study. That's enough to make it almost pleasant to take the wheel on a blazing Sacramento afternoon.
The proposal from the California Air Resources Board is part of the state's effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020. It's still just a draft and won't come to a vote before early 2009 – even though the windows and paints likely to be required are ready for market, or nearly so.
Several U.S. companies make windshields treated with an ultra-thin layer of silver that cuts the amount of the sun's energy hitting the driver by 40 percent or more compared with standard tinted windows.
