## 3 Results and Discussion
### Literature Revision of Materials Applied for Cool Surfaces
#### 3.3.4 Ceramic Materials  
According to the publications presented in Table 4, ceramic materials have been evaluated in 16 publications that are highly related to the theme of energy use in buildings. Nearly 50% of the publications are affiliated, either implicitly or explicitly, with research entities based in Italy. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt}} \hline \hline
**Title of Publ.** & **Authors** & **Journal** & **Year of Publ.** & **Ref.** & **Country of Affiliation** \\ \hline Experimental evaluation of thermal performance of cool pavement material using waste tiles in tropical climate. On a cool coating for roof clay tiles: Development of the prototype and thermal-energy assessment. Performance of near-infrared reflective tile roofs. Design of ceramic tiles with high development of a functional engebe. Design of a cool color glaze for solar reflective tile application. High-solar-reflectance building ceramic tiles based on titanite (CaTSiO5) glaze. Cooler tile-roofed buildings with non-white coatings. Measured temperature reductions and energy savings from a cool tile roof on a central California home. & **Energy and Buildings** & 2017 & Malaysia, Japan \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Most important publications about ceramic materials. The publications showed the development of innovative solutions for a better solar reflectance index of ceramic materials, such as tiles, glazes, and engobes. The use of ceramic tiles is considered an effective component of the cool roof strategy, thanks to its durability and its solar properties, especially if it is glazed [95; 96; 97]. The substrate material was tested with the application of different ceramic coatings through several studies, and the developed nonwhite coatings enhanced the solar reflective performance and showed interesting results in terms of energy saving [98; 99]. Moreover, the wollastonite-hardystonite glass-ceramic porous tiles showed high reflectances of solar radiation, coupled with low thermal conductivity in an arid environment [100], which highlights the complementary function with regard to the thermal insulation properties [101; 102]. In the same sense, an improvement in the thermal performance of a residential building was found during the summer and the winter, and 75% of the solar radiation reflectance in the NIR spectrum was registered, i.e., 10% more with respect to traditional tiles, without altering the visible appearance [64]. The latter property is highly considered for historical buildings that are required to maintain their original aesthetic appearance. These types of buildings often exist in the center of urban areas, which are strongly affected by the UHI. Their retrofitting  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt}} \hline \hline
**Title of Publ. ** & **Authors** & **Journal** & **Year of Publ. ** & **Ref. ** & **Country of Affiliation** \\ \hline New strategy to mitigate urban heat island effect: Energy saving by combining high albedo and low thermal diffusivity in glass ceramic materials. & [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] & _Solar Energy_ & 2017 & [100] & Spain \\ \begin{tabular}{l} Marine sintered glass-ceramic tiles \\ with improved thermal insulation properties for building applications. \\ \end{tabular}  & [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] & _Journal of the European Ceramic Society_ & 2017 & [101] & Italy, France, Saudi Arabia, United States \\ \ \begin{tabular}{l} A composite cool colored tile for \\ sloped roofs with high “equivalent” solar reflectance. \\ \end{tabular}  & \begin{tabular}{l} _Solar_ Energy \\ \end{tabular}  &  
using innovative cool clay tile coatings increased the solar reflectance by 20% while maintaining the original color intact. This kind of retrofitting enhances the thermal responses of buildings and the urban climate in general [103; 104; 105; 106].