A quest going back decades to find the ultimate cool white has led to the creation of a paint that researchers say reflects up to 98.1 percent of sunlight and sends infrared heat away from a surface, making it cooler than the surrounding air.

Covering buildings with the new paint, which is headed to the commercial market in the next two years, could reduce the need for air conditioning, decrease the use of fossil fuels and help combat the problem of urban heat islands, an increasing health concern as temperatures rise, according to researchers at Purdue University.

“If you look at the energy [savings] and cooling power this paint can provide, it’s really exciting,” said Xiulin Ruan, a Purdue mechanical engineering professor whose team published its results in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

How white is their paint? Whiter than virgin snow, they say.

Painting buildings white to reflect sunlight and make them cooler is common in Greece and other countries. Cities like New York and Chicago have programs to paint roofs white to combat urban heat. White paint now on the market reflects 80 to 90 percent of sunlight, but it gets warmer, not cooler, by absorbing ultraviolet light.

The breakthrough Ruan and his team say they have made is creating a paint that both reflects and cools.

Keep reading in the Washington Post