Roof Shingle Colors Energy Efficiency

White roofing isn t always green.

Roof shingle colors energy efficiency.

Energy star certified roof products reflect more of the sun s rays. How they can be made cool. Calculate your energy savings from a cool roof. Energy saving shingles include products made from a variety of materials available in many colors.

The color shingles your clients choose can have significant effect on the temperature of the upper levels of the building. Coating existing asphalt shingles to make them cool however is not normally recommended or approved by shingle manufacturers. Florida solar energy center. Shingle roofs consist of overlapping panels made from a variety of materials such as fiberglass asphalt wood polymers or metals.

This can lower roof surface temperature by up to 50f decreasing the amount of heat transferred into a building. These options allow you to choose a color that makes sense with a home s style while increasing its energy efficiency. Energy star certified roof products can help reduce the amount of air conditioning needed in buildings and can reduce peak cooling demand by 10 15 percent. A white or light colored metal surface reflects best under testing at about 67 percent reflectivity and even some newly developed cool colors send the rays away source.

While it s true that lighter colors generally reflect more light than darker colors cool roof shingles actually come in a variety of colors. This is known as the albedo effect and many studies have documented significant energy savings from simply lightening the color of a roof. Your roof doesn t require any electricity so shingles themselves are not truly energy efficient. In general dark colors tend to absorb more heat and on roofs that heat is transferred to the building.

Modern energy efficient metal roofing acts as a giant mirror of sorts by reflecting the heat and energy up into the air. Lighter roof colors will reflect more of the sun s energy while darker colors tend to absorb heat which can then transfer to attics where it can seep down into the home. The color of a roof also plays a part in whether the roofing is energy efficient. The industry has long held the assumption that white roofing because of how it reacts with surrounding air temperatures think about the idea that the color white.

Buy cool asphalt shingles which use specially coated granules that provide better solar reflectance. Studies by the heat island group and the florida solar energy center have shown that. The color of the shingles you choose for your build can have a significant impact on the building s energy efficiency.