Energy Star Metal Roofing – Selecting Energy Efficient Materials and Colors
If you’re renovating your home, especially if you plan to replace your roof, you have probably heard about the Energy Star program and the way it can help you make your home energy-efficient. So, what is Energy Star and how is it related to metal roofing colors and materials?
Energy Star is a governmental program (created by the US Department of Energy and the US Environmental Protection Agency) developed with two major purposes: energy savings and environment protection. Currently, this energy-efficiency standard has been also adopted by Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the European Union.
You have probably noticed that different devices, kitchen appliances, construction materials and even buildings have a Energy Star logo – it means that they have been evaluated by this program, being given a rating for meeting the needed energy efficiency guidelines.
That’s why, if you want to make your home or your commercial property energy-efficient, to lower your heating or cooling bills (with about one third from the initial cost) and to protect the environment from pollution at the same time, look for products that have earned the Energy Star label.
The Energy Star program can also offer an energy management strategy that can help companies to set specific goals, measure the improvements and keep track of the overall progress of their savings.
Many metal roofing systems present on the market nowadays are Energy Star rated. These roofs help make your home or industrial property more energy-efficient and eco-friendly in several ways:
- Heat-reflective capacities of metal. Energy Star qualified metal has the capacity of reflecting away the heat coming from the sun rays, this way helping to reduce your cooling expenses during summer.
- Special metal roofing colors. Many metal roofing contractors offer their clients a chart of Energy Star rated metal roofing colors – paints, coatings and finishes that have been tested and proven to improve the metal’s capacity of lowering the temperature on the roof surface up to 100 degrees F, also keeping the rest of the building cooler. In order to meet the Energy Star requirements, a metal roofing color has to have a TSR (Total Solar Reflectance) of 25% after the initial paint application and 15% after 3 years of use and exposure to sun rays. Usually, lighter colors (white, ivory, light gray, clay etc.) have a higher degree of protection against heat, while dark colors absorb more of the sun’s rays.
- Less air conditioning usage. With a metal roof, you will use less air conditioning, which has two important benefits: energy savings and protection for the health of your family or employees (it has been proven that breathing conditioned air on a regular basis can lead to different respiratory dysfunctions).
- Metal is recyclable. This makes metal roofing an excellent choice for environment protection. It is lightweight, portable and relatively easy to install (including on existing roofs). When you install a metal roof, you won’t have to spend money for disposing of your old roof, not to mention the fact that you won’t have to find a way to get rid of all the waste without affecting your property or the environment.
Energy Star rated metal roofing colors are not only economical; they are also extremely stylish and modern, increasing the value of your property and improving its image.