Why You Should Choose a Cool Roof For Your Building

cool roof explainedWhen people want to protect their body from the sun, they wear light-colored clothes, sun-glasses, they use lotions or creams. When it rains, they put on raincoats. Or they simply stay inside, and feel safe under the roof.

However, the roof of any building is constantly affected by the sun and moisture, the former being the constant source of infrared radiation and ultraviolet rays, and the latter causing deterioration and rotting of the roof substrate.

Ultraviolet rays initiate a certain chemical reaction which is intensified and increased by the actual heat (or the infrared radiation) from the sun. The outcome of the combination of the UV rays and infrared radiation is premature roof failure and aging.

Extend Your Roof’s Service Life

If you want to protect your building’s roof and make its service life longer, then White Roof Coatings, in other words, Cool Roofs, could be the best solution.

A Cool Roof is a roof which stays cooler either by applying modern technologies or using thick paints with special highly reflective pigments. It also may be a sheet covering, Spray Polyurethane Foam, reflective tiles or shingles.

The purposes of white coating a roof is to protect roof membranes and to reflect solar radiation.

Reduce Costs, Improve Comfort, Save Energy

The benefits of a cool roof for a commercial building are undeniable in many aspects.

First, the roof itself is protected. After the roof is coated, the roof membranes are protected from the damaging effect of the sun and moisture, and this extends the service life of the roof. Then the roof maintenance costs become lower (for example, no reroofing costs, and it leads to reduced amounts of solid waste).

Second, the temperature is reduced and the quality of life is improved. Coatings are designed to reflect ultraviolet rays and radiate the heat from the roof surface back into the atmosphere. By doing this they protect the roof from infrared radiation, ultraviolet rays and the chemical reactions they initiate. That is why under the same condition the roof stays cooler: the roof surface temperature may be lowered by up to 90 degrees as compared to a traditional darker-colored surfaced roof. At the same time the amount of heat conducted to the building below is also much smaller, which keeps the temperature inside comparatively lower and more constant. Naturally, indoor comfort improves in buildings without air-conditioning equipment. If a building has an air-conditioning equipment installed, it will not work as hard. That means the air-conditioning system will serve longer and the energy costs will be much lower.

Third, Southern California homeowners and commercial building owners can receive rebates for installing cool roofs.

Last but not least, the impact on the environment is highly positive. When buildings (especially when there are many of them in one place) have cool roofs, the air temperature becomes lower. The first reason for that is the reduced amount of carbon emissions as less energy is consumed for cooling. Besides, cool roofs do not trap heat and in this aspect do not contribute to global warming. Cool roofs also add to creating more beautiful surroundings as a cool roof looks good and attractive.

In conclusion, cool roofs ensure longer roof life and longer serving life of cooling equipment, they guarantee lower roof maintenance and cooling costs, they also offer a greater comfort. On the community level, cool roofs reduce temperature in the neighborhood, combat air pollution, produce less waste and create aesthetics.