CALL OR EMAIL US TODAY FOR YOUR FREE ESTIMATE – 202-276-5004 FAMILY.ROOFING@YAHOO.COM
At Family Roofing, we take great pride in our experience, expertise, quality and customer service. It is our mission to provide excellent workmanship and complete customer satisfaction from start to completion of a project. Our reputation is based on service, safety and quality, regardless of how large or small the job.
SUSTAINABLE GREEN ROOFING
Reroofing your home can be one of the most costly renovation projects you can undertake. Your roofing material is highly visible, it takes a beating from the elements, and it is partially responsible for your home’s heat loss and gain. Choosing a durable, energy-efficient material should be high on your priority list.
What makes a roofing material green or environmentally friendly is not just the raw materials it comes from and how it is manufactured. It is also how the roof performs over its lifetime and how the roofing is disposed of at the end of its life.
The key performance factors are overall durability and the material’s resistance to heat gain, which can affect the cost of cooling the home. The Energy Star program certifies a number of roofing materials for relatively high heat reflectivity, or their ability to reflect heat away from the roof, thus lowering cooling costs. Energy Star certification is not limited to specific roofing materials.
The question of sustainability is more about the raw material than any other factor. By definition, a sustainable material is produced without depleting or permanently damaging its resource. Many environmental experts also would include the requirement that sourcing the material does not cause significant or irreparable damage to the earth. By these definitions, any roofing material that uses fossil fuels or mined materials is not sustainable because both come from an irreplaceable resource.
Metal Roofing
Although metal roofs are energy-intensive to produce, they are attractive and long-lasting, and they often contain high recycled content or are easily recyclable at the end of their lifetime. Metal roofs can reflect some heat to reduce heat gain, but they must be insulated properly because the metal is highly conductive of heat. The most common metal roofing materials are steel and aluminum. Metals are made with materials mined from the earth and therefore are not technically sustainable.
Beautiful and incredibly durable (a slate roof can outlast a house), slate is also very expensive and heavy, and it takes significant resources to mine it, process it, and transport it. Most slate in the U.S. comes from the Northeast. Mining stone is not a sustainable practice. Also, the weight of slate roofing necessitates extra roof framing, which uses additional resources not required with lighter-weight roofing materials.
Wood Shakes and Shingles
Wood shakes and shingles are arguably the most, and perhaps only, sustainable roofing materials because wood is a sustainable resource. Of course, that assumes the roofing comes from sustainably harvested sources. Shakes and shingles are fairly energy-intensive to produce and are only moderately durable—much less so than slate and clay tile.
Disposal of wood roofing is easy because it is a biodegradable material, provided it has not been treated with synthetic additives or preservatives. Wood can be an especially sustainable choice if you live in an area that produces shakes locally.
Asphalt Shingles
Standard asphalt shingles are moderately durable and can offer good heat reflectivity, depending on the shingle design and color. They are made with paper, and minerals as well as fiberglass, tar, and other petroleum products. Some companies and municipalities make use of discarded asphalt shingles, but for the most part, old shingles are not widely recycled and are not biodegradable. As a petroleum-based product, they are not sustainable.
Green Roof Systems
Also known as living roofs, green roofs are flat or low-slope roofs that are partially or completely covered by vegetation, either in the form of grass or other small plants, preferably species native to the local area. Green roofs also include a growing medium (typically soil and inorganic materials) and a synthetic waterproof membrane.
Although green roofs can be high-maintenance and expensive to install, they offer several benefits, including the absorption of rainwater to prevent runoff and providing insulation for your home. In urban areas, green roofs help to reduce the heat island effect, accumulated heat from concrete, asphalt, and other building materials.
On the downside, green roofs rely on a heavy-duty rubber membrane to waterproof the roof. This is made of petroleum, which is not a sustainable resource. Green roofs also are very heavy and require additional roof framing for support.