Nowadays, a cat on a tin roof doesn’t need to worry about being hot. That’s because metal roofs can be covered in advanced coatings that keep them remarkably cool. “Cool” metal roofing not only keeps the interior of a building comfortable, it also contributes to significant energy savings in warm climates like Florida – an important advantage for homeowners and businesses alike.
How Cool Roofing Works
Traditional roofing materials absorb sunlight, which heats the roof surface and causes that heat to be transferred into a building. Cool roofs absorb far less radiant heat due to their solar reflective properties. This keeps them cooler in the sun and transmits less heat indoors, so there is a reduced need for cooling. The measurement of a cool roof’s ability to reflect the sun’s radiant energy is known as total solar reflectance (TSR), while infrared emittance measures the material’s ability to give off heat.
A TSR rating is primarily determined by a roof’s color and the type of paint pigment used. Lighter colors have long achieved high TSR ratings; however, advancements in pigment technology have produced dark colors (gray, green, red, brown and black) with greater TSR ratings. Today, a metal roof coated with infrared-resistant paint has much higher solar reflectance and infrared emittance than conventional paint systems.
Real-Life Results
Two elementary schools in Dallas, GA, can be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of cool metal roofing. Baggett Elementary School and Poole Elementary School were constructed using exactly the same design, construction and specifications, with the exception of their roofs. Baggett Elementary utilized a metal roof with traditional pigments with a 12% TSR value, while Poole Elementary utilized infrared-resistant cool pigments with a TSR value of 29%. The better TSR value has resulted in an annual cooling savings of just over $10,000 for Poole Elementary, and a projected savings of $350,000 over the building’s 35-year expected lifespan.
Would you like to put the power of cool metal roofing to work for your home or business? Call Arry’s Roofing today at (727) 938-9565 to schedule an estimate for metal roofing in Tampa, FL. We can install a Tampa metal roof that will deliver more comfort and greater energy savings for a lifetime!
