As a careful homeowner, picking reflective roof paint or
coating may reduce your air conditioning use and energy costs while reducing
unhealthy air and keeping maintenance costs down.
Over the past few years, several electric utilities have offered
rebates for cool roofing materials and states across the country have been
adopting cool roof measures into residential and commercial building codes.
This provides homeowners an opportunity to leverage the resulting conservation
of energy, money and the environment to deliver long-term advantages. In the
meantime, it appears that while early emphasis was on painting roofs white[1][2][3], more
recently, experts suggest considering cooler colors with proper chemical properties.
The importance of making your roof more reflective is significant given that[4]
magazine in February performed a study among 100,000 surveyed and concluded
that home improvement projects are on the rise in 2013 with 58% of the
homeowners surveyed planning to hire professional help. Budgeting for your roof
in order to take advantage of conservation awareness may prove beneficial in
the long term. The best way to proceed before you hire a roofer is to prepare
the right questions, get informed and know where to look to stay up to date.
Nobel Prize winner Steven Chu and many experts have recommended
cooler colored roofs on buildings to lower energy cost and help reduce carbon
emissions. Reflective roofing can cut energy costs from 7%-15%, according to
the Cool Roof Rating Council. It can also reduce the need for air conditioning,
reduce maintenance costs, and for society in general will help reduce the
production of unhealthy air. Are these claims supported by evidence? Statistics
show that a roof covered with a solar reflective white paint reflects up to 90
percent of sunlight and a blacktop roof reflects only 20 percent. While scientific
teams say that roofs reflecting some of the heat back into space rather than absorbing
will cool temperatures indoors, they also admit that the cooling impact might
decrease depending on factors that cause white paint to darken over time and integrated
vents that can’t be painted.[5][6]
The discussion on reflective paints expanded. Some
scientists don’t see white is the best solution, but recommend cool
colors. For instance, Oregon State
University
In determining whether you should take advantage of rebates
and are in an area where building codes may affect you, do a little research
about your area. To begin, visit these
links for rebates/codes and more.[8][9]
[1] http://www.concretepolishingmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93:solar-reflective-coatings-for-cool-walls-and-cool-roofs&catid=9:featured-articles&Itemid=2
[2] http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/05/27/steven-chu-white-roofs-to-fight-global-warming/
[3] http://homerenovations.about.com/od/houseexteriorframework/a/HowToPaintRoof.htm
[4] http://www.forbes.com/sites/houzz/2013/04/10/home-improvement-projects-are-on-the-rise/
[5] http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116283
[6] http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116283
[7] http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681430/cool-blue-roofs-may-be-the-secret-to-energy-savings
[8] http://coolroofs.org/resources/rebates-and-codes
[9] http://coolroofs.org/documents/Cool_Roof_Ratings_Codes_and_Programs021710.pdf
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