Comments on: A White Roof Isn’t Always the Right Roof

By: heat reflective roof paint

heat reflective roof paint — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:05:05 +0000

yes, A White Roof Isn’t always the right Roof.By having information on the different roof choices, building owners can choose the roof that is best for their location and climate, and that best solution isn’t always white.It is also important to note that increased insulation dramatically reduces energy consumption in every model.

By: Nathan Pershner

Nathan Pershner — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:30:58 +0000

The Cool Roof Rating Council admits to a “winter penalty” when cool roofs are installed in northern climates.heat Reflective, cool roofs are environmentally responsible when properly insulated and installed in warmer climates. Roofing, like most industries, has many solutions to accommodate many sets of circumstances. Thanks for the post.

By: Anonymous User

Anonymous User — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:32:19 +0000

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By: Anonymous User

Anonymous User — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:27:52 +0000

Everybody is aware with the fact that darker materials absorb more heat from sun than white/light colors, but an interesting data I want to share that black surface in the sun can be 40°C (70°F) hotter than the reflective white surface. This phenomenon occurs in the case of roofs also and heated roof then transfer their heat to surrounded air and contribute to heat island effect, while reflective metallic/ ceramic roof can reflect 65-75 %solar light. According to California energy commissioner “White roofs can cut a building’s energy use by 20% and save consumers money,” and “The potential energy savings in the U.S. is in excess of $1 billion annually.”http://buildinggreenlife.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/magic-of-white-roofs/

By: Anonymous User

Anonymous User — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:18:27 +0000

I would like to make a clarification that the article referenced from Maintenance Solutions was not written by the Cool Roof Rating Council. Some information must have been referenced form the CRRC website as the original article references: “The Cool Roof Rating Council — http://www.coolroofs.org — provided information for this article.” Information about cooler climates is on the CRRC website, located at: http://www.coolroofs.org/coolroofing.html#heating

By: Matt Wootton

Matt Wootton — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:36:45 +0000

Have you factored-in that in colder climates, a well insulated house will have a “white roof” for most of the winter season no matter what colour you choose for your building material? Well-insulated houses maintain their snow-cover for longer periods of time so you might as well take the gain from having a white roof in the summer. Billion’s of people living in the tropics can’t be wrong and having personally lived/travelled in the Caribbean, India, SE asia and East Africa and Southern Europe one thing that stands out is the fact that 90% of the roofs are white or light-coloured. There is also further evidence to supportwhite roofs in higher latitudes. The heatwaves hitting Northern Europe are greatly magnified by the dark-coloureed slate they use on the older buildings. The elderly leaving in the top floor apartments in Paris literally baked to death. Type of roof is also a factor (flat being much hotter in summer and colder in winter). If we were smart, roof colour wouldn’t matter so much. More importantly, roof angle, overhang, placement of windows should all be considered when designing a home. You can get much larger gains in efficiency by simply understanding the min/max angle of the sun at your specific latitude. Build a house for all seasons and paint it whatever colour you want!

By: Baka Greg

Baka Greg — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:26:49 +0000

Please expand on the mechanism of how, and how much of, the heat from a dark roof in the Fall/Winter/Spring actually transfers into the building? My understanding was that the heat captured in a dark roof coating has ony two choices of where to go: either downward through the roof insulation to the relatively warm space below OR upward into cooler sky.Seems that because of the higher delta T, and the opportunity for convection, that heat gathered on the dark roof is going to head for the sky in cooler weather…

By: Green Earl

Green Earl — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:56:08 +0000

This is coming from a roofers, son, and grandson, now a 30 year pioneer in conservation and renewable energy, solar generation.I agree that heat loss, in generally colder climates of the US, is certainly a consideration. But I would consider a white roof for any climate where temps reach above 100 degrees, say for periods of 3 to 6 months or more. Sorry no factual data this time, just common sense. Heat loss, through attics, or even flat-top roof construction can easily be addressed today with new space age foils and othercutting edge insulation. What I did not see mentioned in the article is the fact that the life-span of a black roof, generally will be less, and require the structure be re-roofed sooner. Measure the cost, carbon footprints on multipleroofing jobs over the life of the structure and I think I can still make a pretty good case for a light or white roof, with added coating of sameevery 5 to 10 years to increase the roof life-spaneven longer. Either way, no longer is “That’s what the customer wanted” cutting it. In climates like ours, here in the far reaches of N. CA. it’s May 17, 2009 and it was 103 degrees here yesterday, today is forcasted 106 and we will see 115 this summer, we always do.No respectable roofer should install a dark or charcoal colored roof in this area.Green Earl, FounderAmerican Energy Conservation GroupProducing Negawatts…Since 1981http://yeswecansolveit dot blogspot dot com