There is a lot of planning that goes into designing an eco friendly roof, things like capabilities, efficiency, structural integrity and cost will be the deciding factors when choosing your design. When figuring out what’s green and what’s not, you will want to carefully consider all factors of a given material. attributes like the raw material source and composition, durability / life cycle, how much maintenance will be required, and disposal. it’s key to remember that Often there are tradeoffs: a very durable and efficient material (such as metal) might require more energy to make. Cost and ease of installation are not necessarily green attributes, but will always be factors in your decision.
When you begin planning you have to decide if you are planning a power generating roof, a low impact roof or a green roof. Low impact roofs have less environmental impact for production of the roofing material and helps save money on utilities. Power generation roofing will heat water, generate electricity and save money and the environment by reducing your dependency on traditional power plants. Green roofs act as a a rooftop garden, not only are they beautiful, they also provide awesome insulation, and help remove pollution from the atmosphere.
For a low impact roof, your first step is to decide on your roofing material. when Deciding on the material for your new roof it’s important to take all factors into account. You will need to consider Things such as the cost of the roof, the environmental impact generated by creating and transporting the roofing material, as well as the longevity of your roof.
Wood Shingles, While natural have a huge environmental impact it is usually cut from old growth forests and typically can’t pass fire code unless they are treated with toxic fire retardant chemicals, which defeats the purpose of using wood.
Metal roofs are some of the coolest roofs around, in looks and temperature for homes. Metal roofs are available in copper, aluminum, and stainless steel, and often have a very high percentage of recycled content. They have good insulation, solar reflectance, and durability metal roofing usually lasts twice as long as wood or asphalt.
Slate is the most durable roofing material, Slate Roofing will last a long time, typically the fasteners that hold it on the roof deck wear out after about 100 years long before the slate roofing itself wears out. As a natural material, slate roofing is both extremely durable and also recyclable. Slate Roofing comes in a good selection of colors and Slate Roofing’s color varieties is what adds to the unique appeal of slate roofing.
Clay tile roofing invokes a certain Mediterranean flair and boast the ability to last over 50 years with good insulation value, and tile roofing is Class A fire rated. Tile Roofing can come in lighter colors which adhere to cool roof standards.
Green Roofing is a complex issue, and Although we only really explored a few options for low impact roofing it is our hope that this post has cleared things up a bit for you.
