It’s Texas. It’s Hot. It’s Time for a Cool New Roof.
A cool roof in Austin, Texas, installed by UNITED. The purple section of the building shows that the roof is much cooler than the surrounding areas on a hot summer day.
As temperatures rise and the sun becomes more intense, the benefits of a new reflective commercial roofing system become more evident. Also known as “cool roofs,” these products help reduce energy expenses – not just in Texas, but throughout North America.
If you are in the market for a new commercial roof, here’s why you should consider a reflective, energy-efficient roofing system, installed by UNITED.
In recent years, the trend in commercial roofing has been away from dark built-up and EPDM systems and toward highly reflective thermoplastic systems. Although they are comparable in cost to install, a new cool roof can have a shorter investment payback period because the resulting energy savings lowers operational expenses.
Flat commercial roof membranes made from black or other dark materials absorb heat and transfer it into the building, adding to the load on HVAC systems and increasing utility bills.
Cool roofing systems are typically white in color and reflect solar energy back into the atmosphere – not into the building. Depending on where the building is located, its design and other factors, a new reflective roof can reduce energy consumption by up to 40%.
In addition to limiting the amount of heat transferred into the building, a cool roof means that rooftop HVAC systems don’t have to work as hard on hot sunny days. That’s because the ambient air hovering over a dark roof surface can be 70 degrees hotter than the air on a cool roof. Rooftop HVAC units will have to work a lot harder to cool the extra-hot air that’s hovering on a dark roof before it’s sent into the building. The reduction in the overall HVAC cooling load with a reflective roof may enable the installation of smaller, less expensive units when they need replacing.
Buildings without air conditioning (such as farm structures and some warehouses) also benefit from reflective roofing, which can keep interior spaces cooler and more productive for workers.
Cool roofs tend to last longer in hot climates than dark roofs because they experience less thermal expansion and contraction. Also, in the summertime, when roof surface temperatures are very high, that solar heat combined with UV and IR rays can penetrate dark roof systems and diminish the effectiveness of insulation. Cool roof systems minimize that effect, helping preserve the insulation’s R-value for both hot and cold weather.
It’s clear that a roof’s primary purpose is to keep your building watertight and protected from the elements. When you buy a new roofing system from UNITED, you can be assured that our experience and quality will deliver an installation that will be effective for years to come. In addition, because we install energy-efficient Duro-Last roofing systems, which have among the highest reflectivity ratings in the industry, you can expect to see lower summertime utility bills and other benefits. In some cases, a new energy-efficient Duro-Last roof can pay for itself within five years, because of the utility cost savings that are realized.
We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your commercial roofing needs with you. Please contact us at your convenience.