Experimental evaluation of the thermal performance of cool pavement materials in cold regions of China

The local thermal property evaluation of pavement materials has not received enough attention, making the implementation of cool material measures to alleviate the urban heat island difficult. This study aims to conduct a control experiment on cool pavement bricks selection from the local market. The surface temperature difference and change characteristics of 28 bricks with different physical properties (i.e. colour, thickness, size and internal structure) were recorded by an infrared thermal imager and thermometers. Comparative analysis shows that the maximum surface temperature of the light-yellow brick is 7.3 °C lower than that of the ash black one, and the maximum surface temperature of hollow bricks is 5.6 °C lower than that of solid bricks. Thick bricks have a slightly low mean and maximum surface temperatures, and large bricks also have a low maximum surface temperature, but only deep coloured bricks. The analysis of variance revealed that for the maximum surface temperature, the three factors (i.e. colour, thickness and internal structure) have an interactive effect; for the mean surface temperature, only the colour and internal structure factors have a significant independent effect. This paper provides a feasible bottom-up cooling scheme for urban underlying surface.