High-rise and high-density buildings are increasing with the rapid urban development, which leads to many urban thermal environment problems represented by the urban heat island. The traditional highly-reflective materials can reduce the solar radiation gain of buildings to alleviate urban heat island by the diffuse reflection, but the reflected solar radiation will be absorbed by the surrounding urban surfaces and thereby, the urban heat gain will not be reduced or even increased due the multiple absorption of thermal radiation in building groups. To overcome the inherent defect of highly-reflective materials, retro-reflective materials were proposed to reflect solar radiation along the incident radiation and had gradually attracted much attention due to their unique reflection characteristics. However, the review on retro-reflective materials has not been published to summarize the development status and potential deficiencies of retro-reflective materials. This review focused on the development, performance measurement and significant outcomes of retro-reflective materials, while the application efficiency of retro-reflective materials was described on urban thermal environment and building energy consumption comprehensively. Finally, future directions were proposed on possible studies and applications.

随着城市的快速发展，高层、高密度建筑不断增多，导致以城市热岛为代表的诸多城市热环境问题。传统的高反射材料可以通过漫反射降低建筑物的太阳辐射增益来缓解城市热岛效应，但反射的太阳辐射会被周围的城市地表吸收，从而不会减少甚至城市的热量增益。由于建筑群对热辐射的多次吸收而增加。为了克服高反射材料的固有缺陷，逆反射材料被提出来沿入射辐射反射太阳辐射，并因其独特的反射特性而逐渐引起人们的关注。然而，对逆反射材料的评论尚未发表，以总结逆反射材料的发展现状和潜在缺陷。本次综述重点介绍了逆反射材料的发展、性能测量和显着成果，同时综合描述了逆反射材料在城市热环境和建筑能耗方面的应用效率。最后，就可能的研究和应用提出了未来的方向。同时综合描述了反光材料在城市热环境和建筑能耗方面的应用效率。最后，就可能的研究和应用提出了未来的方向。同时综合描述了反光材料在城市热环境和建筑能耗方面的应用效率。最后，就可能的研究和应用提出了未来的方向。