The University of California Department of Energy states the following regarding the Solar Reflectance Index:.

So, the SRI is a scale from 0 to 100, with 0 being the most plausible value for absorbing and radiating heat (such as a tar roof) and 100 being the most reflective (heating the least), such as the cold roof, which is painted with white reflective paint.

In LEED, the credit categories for Sustainable Sites refer to SRI as a requirement for compliance with SSC7: Roofs - Heat Island Effect which describes different levels of SRI for roofs of different slopes.

Some other concepts that are related to SRI and that are commonly used in LEED and green building are:.