White Roofs?

[trekkor]

Anybody heard about this?

Almost every roof I have ever seen is dark.

I just saw a news story requiring ALL roofs to be retrofitted white by 2009?
This will never happen.


KT

[Hugh R]

White after Labor Day? Actually, it's probably not a bad idea, but legislating it?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The requirement is largely a result of Title 24 envelope compliance where "cool roof" assemblies are required in order to bring buildings into compliance with the overall energy use limits. I've run across this on a few jobs already.

[berettafan]

so what IS the reason that shingles are dark? Just happenstance due to composition?

[Noah930]

But if we do this, won't the abundance of reflective whitet roofs blind migrating birds, thereby causing them to crash and die?

[onlycafe]

i thought this was a mini cooper thing.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by berettafan

so what IS the reason that shingles are dark? Just happenstance due to composition?

Great question. When I lived in FL, we had a white tile roof with a generous overhang. Seemed prudent with all the sunshine.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by onlycafe

i thought this was a mini cooper thing.

Most roofers won't do the Union Jack.

[MichiganMat]

Im surprised we've gone as long as we have here in the US with tar and shingle roofs.

[trekkor]

I wonder if next they'll go for white 'blacktop'.



KT

[widgeon13]

Wait til Al and Jesse get wind of this!

This is going to make the Imus story seem like peanuts!

[Jim Richards]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

[MichiganMat]

Originally Posted by trekkor

I wonder if next they'll go for white 'blacktop'.

KT

Smokey Yunich called for white racetrack surfaces and white rubber tires for years.

[speeder]

Conversely, I would think that dark roofs help in the winter in really cold places. But I don't know anything about the formula for figuring solar effect in the frozen tundra. Not to mention that all of the roofs are covered w/ snow all winter.

White roofs it is!

[RWebb]

my neighbor and I have both put white materials on our roofs to reduce the heat load in the summer.

it's smart - & even smarter in California.

[gr8fl4porsche]

I did it 15 years ago. I painted my hot tar flat roof with off white elastomeric paint I had leftover from a job.

When we started the project, you could not touch the black roof - it was extremely hot.

When we were finished, you could hold you hand on the roof and it was merely warm.

Inside temps in a non insulated, non attic building went down almost 10 degrees.
All the ac units worked much better and obviously ran less.

I always wondered why people still put dark roof shingles on. The lighter colors are less attractive but make much more sense.

Commercial flat roofs have been white around here for some time.

[71T Targa]

Originally Posted by speeder

Conversely, I would think that dark roofs help in the winter in really cold places. But I don't know anything about the formula for figuring solar effect in the frozen tundra. Not to mention that all of the roofs are covered w/ snow all winter.

White roofs it is!

My roof is not covered in snow all winter. It's gone pretty quickly from the dark roof, and at times you can see steam rising from the roof even in below freezing temp's.

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by gr8fl4porsche

I did it 15 years ago. I painted my hot tar flat roof with off white elastomeric paint I had leftover from a job.

I've been thinking of doing the same to my built-up modified bitumen roof (flat roof on a four story brick building)... the roof itself is starting to bubble and crack a bit, and while researching materials for doing a reseal myself I started to read about the elastomeric coatings, which are typically white. I'm guessing I'd pay a tad more in heat during cold months without snow (e.g. November) but would easily make up for it in AC costs during the summer.

[legion]

I'll keep my roof dark to reduce snow load.

[74-911]

Regular asphalt/fiberglass shingles that are white get really ugly really fast from dirt, pollution, mildew etc. This is the reason most people in this part of the world don't use white shingles.