Most buildings, both residential and commercial, could stand to operate a little greener. An energy efficient system over your head goes a long way towards keeping your utility expenditures from literally rising through the roof. What can you do to make your roof more energy efficient? Read on to find out:
Insulation
When it comes time to replace your roof, whether it’s your home or your commercial property, adding insulation may be the single best plan to bring down your heating and cooling costs.
Pitched Roofs
For pitched roofs, insulation usually rests below the roof and above the rafters. Whether you’re beefing up existing, builder-grade insulation or topping off that which has become compressed, attic insulation should prevent your winter heat from escaping through your ceiling into the attic. In the summer, a good thermal layer under the roof blocks attic heat from radiating down into your occupied rooms.
For vaulted ceilings where the drywall is attached to the bottom of the trusses, leaving little attic space, rigid insulation foam boards can provide a better thermal barrier.
Flat\Low-slope
Low-slope roofs often have no attics you can adequately insulate and ventilate at the same time, but you can add rigid foam to the topside when installing a membrane roof system.
Cool Roofs
If your goal points more towards lowering your air conditioning costs, consider replacing your current system with a cool roof product.
Pitched
In the past, a “cool” roof simply meant white shingles. While light-colored shingles certainly help in the same fashion that wearing white clothing in the sun keeps your body cooler than if you wear dark clothes, now shingle manufacturers offer more.
By glazing the mineral granules on asphalt shingles with a highly reflective, transparent coating, your roof gives the sun’s rays and radiant heat the old heave-ho. The ENERGY STAR®-rated shingles not only reflect UV, infrared and visible light of the sun, but they also scatter the heat that they do absorb. Because the coating has no color, you can now achieve an energy efficient roof with darkly-hued shingles, if white isn’t your esthetic preference.
Low-slope/Flat
Commercial and industrial buildings can become much cooler with white single-ply membranes, such as TPO, EPDM, modified bitumen and PVC. However, if you’re looking to get a cooler roof between re-roof projects, many special reflective coatings applied over the existing roof can bring temperatures down too.
Proper Ventilation
Finally, ventilating the attic correctly contributes quite a bit to an energy-efficient roof. Coupled with proper insulation, ventilation keeps the hot air from inside the home or business rising out and away from the interior, so the air conditioner labors less to keep the space cool in summer. While the ventilation may not prevent heat from escaping through the roof in winter, it does help eliminate moisture buildup inside the attic.
Fortunately, manufacturers produce many types of energy saving products. Rosie’s Roofing & Restoration, a trusted roofing company can help you choose the best products to make your roof energy efficient. Please contact us to schedule your consultation today.
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