Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Take a look at the new study from University of California’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which says that simply painting roofs on homes and commercial buildings white - to reflect the sun’s rays back out into space rather than absorbing them - could slash US air-conditioning costs by $1 billion a year.The study is to be published by scientists Hashem Akbari and Surabi Menon and California Energy Commissioner Art Rosenfeld. The scientists calculated that a global white roofs and roads effort would offset 44 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, or more than a year’s worth of carbon, and help stablize future C02 emission increases.

“The 44 Gt CO2-equivalent offset potential for cool roofs and cool pavements would counteract the effect of the growth in CO2-equivalent emission rates for 11 years,” according to the authors. In a serve which shows how simple solutions can shame more complex arrangements like Kyoto, the authors added “Installing cool roofs and cool pavements in cities worldwide does not need delicate negotiations between nations in terms of curbing each country’s CO2 emission rates.”

Cool roofs are a simple, inexpensive solution which produces real results. It’s about time someone in the UK legislated to reflect that.