How Cool Roof Works

You can usually make a new or existing roof cool by selecting the appropriate surface.

How cool roof works.

Compared to traditional roofs a reflective roof has a high albedo or solar reflectance. The right underlayment for your roof will keep moisture cold weather and stifling summer air out giving your roof a longer life. Cool roofs reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat than traditional roofs. This lowers urban air temperatures and mitigates the urban heat island effect.

Cool roofs are designed to reflect sunlight while absorbing less heat. Cool roofs reduce the thermal radiation of heat into the atmosphere convection of heat into outside air and the conduction of heat into the building. White or special cool color roofs absorb less sunlight stay cooler in the sun and transmit less heat into the building. A higher albedo means that a roof has a higher ability to reflect the sun s rays and thus reflects more sunlight than traditional roofs.

Historically cool roofs have been either white or some other lighter shade color. Coatings are like very thick paints that can protect the roof surface from ultra violet uv light and chemical damage and some offer water protection and restorative features. Roof temperature is rated via solar reflectance and thermal emittance with ratings ranging between 0 and 1. Traditional dark colored roofing materials strongly absorb heat from sunlight making them warm in the sun and heating the building.

Whereas darker traditional roofing materials absorb sunlight the reflective surfaces of a cool roof reflect it away. Cool roof coatings are white or special reflective pigments that reflect sunlight. On top of the rafters your roof has plywood followed by sheathing a material that s designed to protect your home from moisture. A cool roof is a roof designed to maintain a lower surface temperature in bright sunshine than a traditional roof source.

There are many types of roof systems available but the surface exposed to the sun is the one that determines if a roof is cool or not. On the other hand cool roofs stay cooler in the sun and transmit less heat into the building. It begins with the rafters and continues on in layers of protection that prevent water and the wind from damaging your home. This results in lower absorption of solar heat and a cooler roof.

How your roof works your roof is not just made up of a few shingles. Many have anti slip technology to protect the people who install the roof and they can be exposed for up to six months while the roof gets built. A cool roof is a roofing system that delivers higher solar reflectance the ability to reflect the visible infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths of the sun reducing heat transfer to the building and higher thermal emittance the ability to radiate absorbed or non reflected solar energy than standard designed roofing products.