What is a cool roof and why do you need one?
Posted by Joseph Newland on Mon, Apr 05, 2010 @ 02:56 PM
The Department of Energy defines a "cool roof" as "A roof covering which efficiently reflects the sun's heat and emits absorbed solar radiation back into the atmosphere.
Why should I choose a "cool roof"? What benefits will I see?
Over the past decade the US Department of Energy has done extensive research on the advantages of cool roof systems and has positively concluded that by using a cool roof system one can:
- Reduce cooling energy cost by 10% to 30%
- Reduce air pollution
- Extend A/C equipment life
- Improve thermal efficiency of the roof insulation
We know what a cool roof is and we see that they offer quite a few benefits for our environment and our bottom lines, but which cool roof system is right for your building and your budget? For this article lets assume we are dealing with an existing building. The roof is 10-15 years old, leaks and bills for roof patches are becoming frequent.
You have a choice of removing the entire roof and replacing with a cool roof system such as a white single ply with a base of recovery board. This could be a good solution but will be a more expensive option. It is not very environmentally friendly because the existing roof has to be torn off and thrown into a landfill. The second option is to repair and waterproof your existing roof with a flexible roof coating system.
Roof coatings are a "green" option because we are not tearing off the roof and dumping it into the local landfill. Because you can theoretically just re-coat your roof, instead of replace the roof, it is also "sustainable".
In the next few blog post I am going to explore roof coatings in more depth so check back soon. I would love to hear others experience with roof coatings; good, bad or otherwise so feel free to leave a comment.