Is Cool Metal Roofing Eco-Friendly?
Today many business owners are concerned about the environmental impact they will have on the environment.
Fortunately, the rise of eco-friendly building methods and materials has helped reduce waste and pollution, resulting in a better, healthier planet. It's one of the many benefits of building with custom-engineered metal buildings.
And now, many commercial businesses are using their roofs to be more environmentally friendly.
Metal roofing has been available for centuries, and now it's available in a wide variety of substrates, colors, textures, and profiles. It's one of the many reasons so many more companies are choosing to go with pre-engineered metal buildings.
Metal roofing products such as steel roofs have become a great alternative to traditional tiles or shingles for people who want to practice conscious sustainability.
But have you heard of cool metal roofing?
Cool metal roofing can help save the environment and money on your energy costs.
In the article below, we will go over a few reasons why metal roofs are eco-friendly and sustainable.
Table of Contents
- What Is Cool Metal Roofing?
- Eco-Benefits of Cool Metal Roofing
- Work With STEVENS, The Best Metal Building Erector
What Is Cool Metal Roofing?
Cool metal roofing is made of various metal materials like aluminum, tin, copper, and galvanized steel.
People love metal roofs because they can stand up to the worst mother nature has to offer - heavy rainstorms, tornados, hurricanes, hailstorms, and snow.
Your metal roofs will keep your business and customers safe and away from debris and natural elements.
Along with being fire-resistant and resistant to unforgiving weather and pests, metal roofs are also an environmentally friendly roofing solution for your pre-engineered steel building.
They have unmatched longevity, and superior energy-saving features, and they are highly recyclable.
Eco-Benefits of Cool Metal Roofing
Energy Efficiency
A cool roof has been shown to reduce interior cooling costs.
A cool roof can reduce energy costs in peak demand during the hottest summer months by 15%.
Those are big numbers achieved through a combination of both high reflectivity and high thermal emittance.
The reflective properties of steel roofs, even those painted to match the color of your business, will help diminish the warming effects the sun's rays can have on your prefab steel building during the sweltering summer months.
Business parks and retail complexes with cool metal roofs can even reduce the urban heat island effect of the areas they're in.
Highly Recyclable
Metal roofing and metal building materials, in general, are made of more recycled material per square foot than any other building material.
The new metal roof you have installed on your metal building today could have been an old fridge or an old car in a past life.
When the service life of a metal roof or any other steel material product ends, the material can be recycled and used again without a loss of quality.
Metal roofs are often considered green roofs because of how often and easily they can be recycled.
Worn-out asphalt shingles usually end up in landfills along with all the other building materials.
Many landfills have more shingles than they know what to do with, so they charge exorbitant fees to discard them.
Right around 11 million tons of shingles are removed from existing projects each year, and on average, it takes 300 years for them to decompose.
Longevity
Out of all of the types of roofs available, your metal roof will last you the longest.
The typical life of an existing metal roof is two to three times longer than the lifespan of a roof made with asphalt shingles.
Metal roofing materials have a significantly longer expected service life than all other roofing materials.
Metal roofs are malleable and can be pressed and shaped without breaking or cracking.
A metal roof can last considerably longer than the average asphalt shingle roof that has a 15- to 23-year service life.
Your metal roof can last up to 60 years and even beyond that.
Add in how little maintenance is required to keep your metal roof healthy, and you should have a good idea of why business owners love metal roofs for the generous financial savings that come along with their longevity.
Smaller Carbon Footprint
Since steel roofs are typically made of recycled content and can be recycled at the end of their use, there's no need to plumb resources to make new materials.
If one of your goals is to make your business more sustainable and eco-friendly, it's time to start thinking about metal roofing.
The investment you make now will reward you with decades of energy savings.
You will also have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you’re doing your part to make the world a better place.
Reflectivity and Thermal Emittance
Metal roofing naturally reflects the bulk of the sun's heat and energy away from your business, resulting in lower energy bills.
This is something asphalt shingles, slate tiles, or wood shingles cannot do.
In addition to the natural reflective properties of metal, new coating technology is enabling paint manufacturers to add reflective pigments to coating systems.
Metal roofing panels that have these reflective coating systems are what makes them cool metal roofing.
The term reflectivity measures the amount of energy reflected away from the metal roof panel surface.
Thermal emittance is the measure of a panel’s ability to release heat that it has absorbed. This is sometimes referred to as heat transfer.
When you allow reflectivity and thermal emittance with metal roofing panels to work together, it will lower utility costs because less of the sun’s energy gets absorbed into the roof system, attic area, and your business below.
Asphalt shingles actually absorb the sun’s energy and transfer the heat directly into the attic space leaving business owners with higher air conditioning costs.
Work With STEVENS, The Best Steel Building Erector
Those are just a few of the main benefits of metal roofing, but there are many, many more.
If you're readily looking for the best company to work with on your next project, STEVENS is proud to offer high-quality, pre-engineered steel buildings and metal roofs.
STEVENS will help you customize your facility and erect your metal building, and their steel building erector team takes pride in the relationships they build with their clients.
We will be sure that we meet their specific needs and requirements for their steel building and metal roofing projects.
With STEVENS, you have a full-service construction and building systems team (design, engineering, project management, installation, erection, and completion) for your next steel building project.
Click the button below to start your next metal building project with STEVENS.
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