Different Substrates Require Different Roof Coatings

Once you determine a roof coating’s function, you must also consider the type of roof system being coated. Coatings suppliers and manufacturers like Conklin generally offer two types of coatings: all-purpose (suitable for a range of substrates) and application-specific (tailored to one type or a limited range of substrates).

It is important to know that different substrates require different roof coatings. For example, it is more difficult for coatings to adhere to hard, smooth, chemically-inert surfaces and easier on rough, irregular, chemically-active surfaces.

Coating adhesion to a substrate improves when the installer applies a primer or base coat. Manufacturers like Conklin recommend certain primers or base coats to match a specific top coat with a specific substrate. You should use only the base coat or primer specified by the coating manufacturer.

Primers and base coats for built-up roofs offer good examples. Manufacturers have designed products specifically to work on these surfaces - they work well on these often-hot surfaces by bonding to the asphalt and preventing it from bleeding into the white topcoat.

Enhancing a coated roof’s sustainability requires re-coating to extend service life. Most coatings are field-applied, and success depends on real-world conditions and the skill of the installer. To ensure proper curing, an experienced roofing contractor should pay careful attention to consistent application and changing weather conditions.

Please also see the March 2009 facilitiesnet.com article by Reed Hitchcock titled "Different Substrates Require Different Roof Coatings"

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Roof Coatings Provide Quicker ROI

Roof coatings like those from Conklin contribute to the bottom line of many organizations by producing a return on investment in just a few years, rather than several decades.
Installers can apply roof coatings without delay and do not need to tear-off the existing roof system. Coatings can extend the life of the roof, and they are suitable for most buildings.

The age of the building or amount of insulation in place does not matter. Even on a well-insulated roofing system, a coating can extend the roof’s performance life and provide additional energy savings. A roof coating is complementary to insulation, lowers roof temperatures and can extend the life of an insulated roof.

Building owners or managers should move carefully in selecting a coating and training the maintenance staff on its proper application. A basic knowledge of roofing practice and attention to quality control are crucial to the success of a coating. You can use in-house maintenance crews to install coatings on smaller areas and to make repairs, but you want to contract out larger projects to a trained professional.

A roof coating can extend a roof’s performance life indefinitely, so its importance to sustainability is obvious. Yet general discussions of green buildings too often underemphasize coatings’ importance.

Now is the time look at roof coatings in a new light. They can create immediate savings you are searching for, and they can contribute to a more energy-efficient, sustainable nation and future economic prosperity.

Please also see the March 2009 facilitiesnet.com article by Reed Hitchcock titled "Roof Coatings Provide Quicker Return on Investment"


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Classifying Roof Coatings by Binder & Carrier Type

Reflective roof coatings are available for a variety of roofing systems, including low- and steep-slope metal and bituminous systems. You can specify various coatings for different types of low-slope roof systems, and manufacturers like Conklin are introducing new formulas to keep up with changing needs and roofing materials.

Water-based urethanes, bio-based materials, 100% solids silicones, and low volatile-organic-compound asphalt cutbacks are in the pipeline. Self–cross-linking, water-based coatings; faster-setting, water-based coatings; and a basecoat primer suitable for every roofing membrane also are on the horizon.

Manufacturers like Conklin commonly classify roof coatings according to binder type and carrier type, which also determine application methods and compatibility with existing roof surfaces.

A coating’s binder, or resin, is its basic matrix material, which adheres to a roof surface. Manufacturers use different binder chemistries to meet price and performance criteria and to match specific roof substrates. The binder type dictates most of a coating’s primary physical properties, including elongation, tensile strength, adhesion to a substrate material, permeance, water swelling, and low-temperature flexibility.

Roof coating binders typically range from asphalts to a variety of elastomers — acrylics, urethanes, silicones, thermoset rubbers and various block polymers — as well as blends of these materials.

A coating’s carrier is the liquid that combines with the binder to reduce viscosity to a workable level. The carrier generally evaporates during curing.

The carrier also generally dictates a coating’s installation process and cure time. Manufacturers like Conklin now more often use water as a carrier, in which case the binder is suspended in water as an emulsion. Traditionally, most coating binders have used a solvent as the carrier. Solvent-based coatings cure in a broader range of weather conditions and might be the best choice — or only choice — in freezing or wet conditions.

A coating’s cure rate varies greatly because it reacts to ambient humidity, temperature and sunlight. This reaction is especially true of water-based coatings. Coating installers must allow coatings to cure sufficiently to ensure they are waterproof.

Finally, manufacturers like Conklin add pigments and fibers to binders to control physical properties and increase reflectivity. Because reflectivity and emittance are defining properties of cool roofs, organizations such as the Energy Star program and the Cool Roof Rating Council in California monitor and measure these coatings.

Please also see the March 2009 facilitiesnet.com article by Reed Hitchcock titled "Manufacturers Classify Coatings by Binder and Carrier Type"


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The Four Objectives for Specifying Roof Coatings

Click the image to enlarge

With all of the various the energy-efficiency provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, maintenance and engineering professionals are now able to examine roof coatings like those from Conklin in a new light.

The decision to coat a roof systems is usually made based on one or more general objectives:

• Extending maintenance and service life encompasses protecting against ultraviolet light and moisture, repairing leaks and cracks, extending service lives of underlying membranes and insulation by lowering average roof surface temperatures, reducing expansion and contraction stress by lowering peak temperatures, maintaining waterproofing properties, protecting roofs from severe weather (such as hail and ice storms), and treating and preventing corrosion of metal roof systems.
• Improving energy savings relates to cool roofing and tax credits associated with air conditioning costs, the size of HVAC units, insulation preservation, and reducing the roof’s life-cycle cost.
• Enhancing safety involves maintaining or upgrading a fire rating, as well as bonding loose and friable materials.
• Promoting environmental stewardship includes reducing landfill waste and limiting the effects of urban heat island.

These objectives have become part of an industry-wide movement aimed at saving energy and improving sustainability.

Longer roof-system life cycles reduce the energy required to tear off and transport failed systems to landfills, as well as the energy needed to manufacture new roofing materials, transport them to job sites and install them. In short, to maintain is to sustain.

Extending a roof system’s life cycle also means less downtime and no lost income during roof replacement. In contrast to re-roofing projects, roof-coating applications generally do not require a building shutdown.

Reducing solar heat gain also directly affects a building’s peak electricity requirements. Peak loads often form the basis of electricity prices because they establish a region’s energy-generating needs.

Some white reflective coatings can reflect 80 percent or more of the sun’s rays at installation. As a result, they reduce air conditioning costs. When used as part of an ongoing roof-maintenance program, managers typically can treat coatings as an expense, not a capital investment.

Finally, a cool roof can mean a smaller initial investment in air conditioning equipment when the equipment is included in the planning for a new roof.

Please also see the March 2009 facilitiesnet.com article by Reed Hitchcock titled "The Four Objectives for Specifying Roof Coatings".


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ROOFING CONTRACTORS NEEDED IN MULTIPLE STATES!
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Understanding Cool Roofing Standards

Although some cool roofing standards programs such as Green Globes and LEED may be voluntary, others like the building codes in Atlanta, Chicago and California mandate minimum standards that all buildings must meet.

It is important for roofing contractors to understand cool roofing standards, so here is a list of the major ones:

• California’s Title 24 (the most stringent standards in the nation)
• The Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR program
• U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program
• The Green Building Initiative's Green Globes program (similar to LEED)
• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
• Local standards — Municipalities nationwide are identifying the benefits of using energy-saving building codes that go beyond the standard code language. Please check with your local government to determine the standards in your region.

One of the reasons it’s hard to be specific about codes is the lack of any unified standard - there is no national energy code. Each state has its own standards. California is definitely leading the way and setting a good example for the rest. The one advantage is that each state can determine codes that make the most sense for their specific climate.

Please also see the March 2009 facilitiesnet.com article by Loren Snyder titled "Cool Roof Standards".

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Tired of labor problems and low profit margins? Make more $$ spraying coatings with Conklin Roofing Systems! Patton Services | (309) 303-3128 | rpatton55@comcast.net | http://www.whiteroofingsystems.com

Longevity: Another Benefit of White Roof Coatings

A typical building in the ancient Mediterranean - everything but the wood is coated white.

Lower energy use isn't the only benefit of white roof coatings like those from Conklin - they can also extend the life expectancy of many different types of roofing systems simply by avoiding the high roof temperatures associated with exposure to the sun (the technical term for exposure is “insolation,” measured in terms of the rate of solar radiation received per unit area).

Heavily insulated roof systems block this heat from penetrating the building as heat, but in summer months convective heat transfer to the surrounding air and radiant heat transfer are inefficient. Consequently, the heat has nowhere to go and roofing membrane temperatures can soar.

High temperatures can shorten the life of the roofing system. Rubber as well as other synthetic polymers and especially asphalt is susceptible to damage after prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures. Roof temperatures can rise above ambient air temperatures by as much as 90°F, accelerating the rate of degradation of the roofing materials - especially when the roof surface rises to 140°F and above. Significant damage can begin to occur at these elevated temperatures, causing both short-term and long-term performance issues. A rule of

thumb for thermal aging is that service life is cut in half for every 18°F increase in temperature (weighted and averaged over time).

Most people appreciate that white roof coatings result in savings on cooling costs, but enhanced roof longevity (especially in northern states) can be another major benefit that results in at least as much savings. Without white coatings, roof temperatures can skyrocket in the summer months (especially for buildings in cooler climates) because they typically have a lot of insulation to help keep in the heat during the winter months.

COST SAVINGS: The inverse correlation between insulation thickness and roof life is well documented by roof asset management firms. Since ripping out the insulation every summer is of course impractical, white coatings are one of the best means available to counteract the deleterious effects of high heat levels and enhance the prospects for a long-lasting roofing system.

Please also see the September 2006 roofingcontractor.com article by Tom Meyer and Steve Heinje titled "Cool Roofing: Coatings Keep Things Cool".

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Tired of labor problems and low profit margins? Make more $$ spraying coatings with Conklin Roofing Systems! Patton Services | (309) 303-3128 | rpatton55@comcast.net | http://www.whiteroofingsystems.com

White Roof Coatings: Sunscreen for your Roof

There's no debating the value of using sunscreen to protect against sunburns and skin-damaging ultraviolet rays, but what about protecting your roof in the same way? White reflective roof coatings from Conklin essentially act as sunscreen for roofing systems.

White roof coatings consist of a binder (like an organic or silicone polymer), blended with pigments and other additives that provide several benefits such as protecting roof membranes with a chemical barrier, reflecting sunlight, and contributing to longer roof life. And reflection of solar radiation can result in significantly lower air conditioning costs.

Please also see the September 2006 roofingcontractor.com article by Tom Meyer and Steve Heinje titled "Cool Roofing: Coatings Keep Things Cool".


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Tired of labor problems and low profit margins? Make more $$ spraying coatings with Conklin Roofing Systems!
Patton Services | (309) 303-3128 | rpatton55@comcast.net | http://www.whiteroofingsystems.com