Emissiv, an Imperial College start-up based in White City, has painted its first roof at Townmead Business Centre in Fulham. Its paint reflects 95% of sunlight.
A paint made by a start-up in White City is being tested on roofs across the borough. The first coat went on at Townmead Business Centre, on William Morris Way in Fulham, on Thursday 15 October.
The company is Emissiv, founded by two Imperial College London graduates. The council announced the trial on 30 October. Emissiv’s own address is Scale Space, 58 Wood Lane, inside the White City Innovation District.
What the paint does
Emissiv calls the coating Stellar White. It is a white paint that keeps a roof cool in two ways. It reflects sunlight before it turns to heat, and it gives off the heat the roof does absorb as infrared radiation, which passes out through the atmosphere into space.
The company’s website gives these figures for it:
- it reflects 95% of incoming solar energy
- it emits 95% of thermal radiation
- it can cut a roof’s surface temperature by up to 30°C
- it can reduce the cost of cooling the building below by up to 20%
- it should last seven to 10 years before a recoat
That last saving is a model, not a measurement. Emissiv says the 20% figure is “predicted” from its own thermal modelling and that “performance varies by climate, substrate, building construction and application”.
Where it is being tried
The council names three test sites in the borough:
- Townmead Business Centre, William Morris Way, Fulham, where the first coat went on
- office space at The Earls Court Development Company
- Imperial College’s Wood Lane campus in White City
Emissiv publishes early results from the Earls Court site, a 90 square metre office roof. Against an uncoated part of the same roof, it recorded:
- up to 30°C lower at the roof surface
- up to 10°C lower in the air just above it
- up to 3°C cooler in the office below
In a separate pilot on builders’ site cabins with the contractor Careys, it recorded a roof surface up to 20°C cooler and cabins up to 6°C cooler inside.
The businesses at Townmead “will feel the benefit”, the council says. No results from that roof have been published yet.
Who is behind it
The co-founders are Sandra Go, the chief executive, and Nikhil Dawda, the chief technology officer, who previously worked at the engineering firm Arup. They met on the same Imperial master’s programme in sustainable energy futures, the council says.
Mr Dawda said Imperial and the innovation district had been “extremely helpful in helping us scale”.
“The university provided initial grant funding and, in partnership with H&F, they were also able to facilitate our first local pilots,” he said.
He presented the paint at the council’s Upstream London Economic Forum. The council says the White City Innovation District has the largest number of climate change start-ups in the UK. It also says its Upstream London strategy has brought in £1.1 billion of green and climate tech investment since 2017. It does not say how either figure was measured.
What it means for you
If you run a business with a flat roof that bakes in summer, this is a product being tested on your doorstep. Emissiv’s website invites building owners to book a call about a pilot on their own roof.
Two points from the company’s own material are worth knowing before you do:
- The 20% saving is modelled. Ask what was measured on a roof like yours.
- It is a summer product. Emissiv’s FAQ says the effect in winter is small, because the sun is low and skies are cloudier. It gives summer surface temperatures falling from about 70°C to 35°C, against a few degrees’ difference in winter.
For more on the borough’s growth areas, including White City, see our planning news page.
Sources
- Hammersmith & Fulham Council, “White City innovators launch paint to cut costs and beat the heat”, 30 October 2026, for the test sites, the 15 October start, the founders’ background, Mr Dawda’s quotes and the council’s investment figures.
- Emissiv, read 1 November 2026, for the product name, the 95% reflectance and emittance, the pilot results at Earls Court and with Careys, the modelled 20% saving, the seven to 10 year life, the winter FAQ, the team and the Wood Lane address.
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