CSSBI Sustainability – Cool Metal Roofing
It’s a fact that buildings consume two thirds of all the electricity produced in North America and one third of all the energy produced in North America. While it is recognized that cooling and heating costs can be reduced by adding insulation under the roof surface, there is a diminishing return on the strategy of increasing insulation to conserve energy costs. This is where “cool roofing” can play a role in further reducing the energy consumed, and in minimizing the Heat Island Effect created in the big urban cities. Cool roofing relies on sustainable, energy efficient, coated steel products, in a wide variety of finishes, colours, textures and roofing profiles. It conserves energy through its properties of reflectivity and emissivity.
BENEFITS
There are many benefits of owning a cool metal roof. Here are just a few to consider:
- Energy Efficient: Metal roofing is on the leading edge of technology with a wide variety of finishes, designs and colors that provide greater energy savings compared to most other non-metal roofing products on the market today.
- Sustainable: Metal roofing is sustainable. It contains significant recycled content. It lasts much longer than most non-metal roofing products. It is 100% recyclable at the end of its useful life.
- Low Life-Cycle Costs and Durable: Metal roofing has been proven to be more durable than most other roofing systems available. As a result, metal roofing has low life-cycle costs making it the choice of many school, government, commercial, industrial and institutional building owners.
- Fire and Wind Resistant: Metal roofing is extremely fire resistant and can be designed to withstand strong winds.
- Lightweight: Due to its light weight per unit area, structural savings can be realized in a building when compared to using heavier non-metal roofing alternatives. For re-roofing projects, metal roofing can often be applied over the original roof, saving removal and disposal costs.
