You can usually make a new or existing roof cool by selecting the appropriate surface.
How expensive is a cool roof.
Cool roofing is known to be very affordable overall with energy savings ranging from 7 15 of total cooling costs.
They have higher solar reflectance ratings than darker materials but much lower ratings than a white roof ranging between 0 25 and 0 30.
Like all roofing projects however costs can vary depending on multiple factors.
Solar reflective shingles range between 2 and 3 per square foot depending on manufacturer and vendor.
Cool roofing information for home and building owners.
There are many types of roof systems available but the surface exposed to the sun is the one that determines if a roof is cool or not.
Tpo thermoplastic polyolefin is a blend of polymers that can contain flame retardants or uv absorbers.
It tends to be more expensive than tpo but is well known for long term performance and is naturally fire retardant.
These typically come in mid range colors such as medium browns and grays.
Not all single ply membranes are cool roof products but the average cost of cool roof single ply membrane is only slightly higher than the cost of traditional single ply membrane about 1 50 3 per square foot for cool roof materials versus around 1 to 2 per square foot for standard single ply products source.
Combined with the fact that sunlight is directly reflected back at the sun cool roofs can positively impact the environment with lower co2 emissions.
Going about installing a cool roof is a matter of timing.
Depending on the kinds of materials used the incremental cost of choosing a cool roof over a more traditional dark roof for a commercial building is approximately us 0 to us 2 20 per square meter us 0 to us 0 20 per square foot.
The cool roof rating council crrc is an independent non profit organization that maintains a third party rating program which rates and publishes a roof product s radiative properties solar reflectance and thermal emittance.
Project size project location climate and ease of roof access.
Once a product is rated the results are published on their online rated products directory which is a great.
Types of cool roofs.
If the roof is retrofitted ahead of schedule in order to install a cool roof there will be some incremental cost.
Cool roof coatings are white or special reflective pigments that reflect sunlight.