Why
Cool Roofing?
The ancient Greek knew a lot about art, philosophy poetry and
keeping cool. It wasn’t just the togas. Greek builders understood
that building constructed with light-colored materials stayed
cooler.
And
the basic properties of light and heat haven’t changed. People
still wear white clothing to stay cooler in hot climates because
white reflects the sun’s energy while black absorbs it.
So why continue to pay the price in higher energy and maintenance
costs for that black roof on your building?
If you’re thinking about a cool roof, you need to understand
the basics. Like how much of the sun’s energy a white roof
reflects, and how long the reflectivity lasts.
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Urban
Heat Island: Truth and Consequences
You’ve
probably heard about the "heat island" effect the tendency
of urban areas to reach temperatures from 3 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit
above the surrounding countryside.
But
have you heard about what heat island means for your building
energy and maintenance cost and what you can do about it?
Truth
- Nearly
half of the U.S. population lives and works in " heat islands."
- 38%
of the heat island effect is attributable to dark roofing, which
absorbs more sunlight.
Consequences
- More
discomfort, resulting in lost productivity.
- Increased
energy cost as air conditioners work harder to keep building
cool.
- Higher
maintenance expenses due to accelerated aging of building structures.
But
rising mercury need not mean rising costs.
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Hot
Roofs and Potholes
It
is becoming widely known that reflective roof systems can help
keep buildings cooler. And we install Duro-Last "The World’s
Coolest Roof" along with other cool roof systems. But there
is a relatively new premise that explains the sense of urgency
felt by some urban areas. It’s the connection between hot
roofs and potholes.
What
do hot roofs have to do with potholes? It’s really just common
sense.
First,
research has established that urban heat islands exits. Urban
heat islands are those urban areas where daily maximum temperatures
are hotter that the surrounding rural areas are several degrees
hotter.
Now,
as the daily maximum temperature increases during spring and summer
months, buildings get hot. And when buildings get hot, people
get hot. When people get hot, they turn down the thermostat. So
air conditioning use and power demand goes up.
As
power demand goes up, more power must be generated to support
that demand. In much of the country power is generated by burning
fossil fuels such as coal. So the use of fossil fuels increases.
Even
though power plants do a very good job of cleaning their smoke,
pollutants still cling to the air. All the above factors, plus
the pollution generated from activities associated with the dense
population of urban areas, makes cities more susceptible to the
development of smog.
What’s
the connection with potholes? This: if urban area don’t comply
with federal requirements to reduce levels of pollutants such
as ozone, they can be faced with the prospect of losing highway
funds, that are use for roadway maintenance.
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Cool
Solutions: For Hot Buildings
White
roofing is one of the fastest, easiest, least
expensive,
and most effective ways to reduce energy
consumption
in buildings with low-slope and flat roofs.
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How it works?
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Look
at these three balloons. The black one represents the majority
of existing low-slope and flat roofs in the U.S. today.
When building owners opt for white roofing, they often install
it over such black roofs.
Which
brings us to the second balloon- a black one coated white.
It appears white at first, but the coating cracks and peels
after you blow it up and let the air out a few times. Our
point? Because roofs expand and contract with the weather,
a coating must also be able to expandand contract with the
roof underneath inorder to maintain its value. The completely
white balloon can be expanded andcontract without losing
any of its reflectivity or integrity. It represents white
single-ply membrane roofing, a cool roof solution worth
looking into.
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Cools
Links
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COOL
ROOF