Built-up roof restoration coating systems [+ video]

Since their inception more than 100 years ago, built-up roofs have earned a tried-and-true reputation as tough, durable and resistant to abuse and foot traffic. But what do you do when you are tired of chasing leaks or when your built-up roof finally does wear out completely?

UV rays oxidize the surface of an asphalt built-up roof, producing a chalk-like residue. As plasticizers leach out of the asphalt, the built-up roof becomes brittle and begins to blister and crack in a pattern that resembles alligator hide, allowing water to penetrate the roof system and cause leaks.

What are your options? You could tear-off your existing roof and install a new built-up system. On a 10,000 square foot commercial building, the tear-off alone could add 150 additional labor hours as well as the cost of renting 3 dumpsters to fill and haul to the local landfill - not to mention the cost of materials and installation of a new built-up roofing system.

But fortunately, complete tear-off and replacement is rarely necessary. A seamless built-up roof coating system is much less expensive, sustainable and a viable alternative in all climates. Roof coatings stop leaks and extend the life of your existing roof by 10 years or more without the cost of tearing-off the existing roof, disposing of it and installing a brand new built-up roof.

Another benefit is return on investment. Reflective coatings are cool roofing systems, which lower energy consumption. They also prevent premature roof deterioration by serving as a sacrificial layer to the elements, and reduce thermal-shock roof damage to the entire structure by moderating the excessive thermal expansion and contraction.

The installation process of a restoration coating system is fairly quick and easy, too:

1. First, all known leaks are sealed, including flashings, cracks and splits.
2. Next, Spray Polyurethane Foam, or "SPF" is applied to provide insulation, address ponding water areas, and to provide a surface conducive for coatings.
3. Finally, the roof coating is applied to the entire roof surface to form a seamless protective membrane that produces a durable, weather-resistant and energy efficient surface and that can be walked on for normal maintenance.

So before you replace your worn out built-up roof, consider getting a quote from a professional roofing contractor who specializes in built-up roof restoration coatings for a more affordable, more energy efficient, more environmentally friendly, more sustainable, and faster-to-install alternative to re-roofing.


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Infrared-reflective architectural metal cool roofing

Infrared-reflective pigments are being incorporated into architectural metal roofing products to allow them to achieve higher reflectivity values, even in darker colors such as black and brown.

The improved reflectivity (for example, black changes from 0.07 with normal pigments to 0.32 with infrared-reflective pigments) can mean a much cooler surface temperature and greater energy savings for the building, allowing building owners and managers to select a sustainable roof without sacrificing aesthetic color choices.

To get 1 point for Sustainable Sites Credit 7.2: Heat Island Effect, the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system specifies Energy Star requirements, adding a 0.9 emissivity standard.

For steep-sloped roofs, those with a rise-to-run ratio of 3:12 or greater, a 0.25 initial solar reflectance is required. In most cases, coated metal roofs can easily surpass the reflectivity requirement, and in some cases they can achieve 0.9 emissivity. More often they only achieve an emissivity of 0.85, thereby eliminating them from achieving the LEED point. For low-sloped roofs, those below 3:12, and flat roofs, the LEED reflectivity requirement is raised to 0.65, and the 0.9 emissivity standard is the same.

The Cool Metal Roofing Coalition, an organization comprised of metal industry trade associations, is providing commentary and data to USGBC requesting consideration for a reduction of the emissivity standard to around 0.7, contending that in addition to metal roofing’s energy efficiency when the reflective pigments are incorporated into a system’s design, metal’s long term ability to retain its reflective properties and a low life-cycle cost justify reducing the standard. The 0.9 standard “restricts a building owner’s ability to apply a suitable, long-term roof,” says Greg Crawford, executive director of the Coalition. The emissivity standard of 0.9 “is somewhat arbitrary,” says Andre Desjarlais, program manager for the Building Envelope research program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a supporting member of the Coalition. The 0.9 standard “is not defensible, but neither is eliminating emissivity altogether. We’re searching for middle ground.”

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Concordia University professor advocates cool roofing to fight climate change

Hashem Akbari, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec (Canada) believes a significant part of the of global-warming solution has to do with roofing. Something as simple as the color of roofs in a urban area can contribute significantly to combating global warming, saving homeowners and building owners energy costs in the process. Akbari says that installing a white, or "cool" roof would not absorb as much heat as a standard dark roof is a key element to fighting global warming.

"Cool roofs save you energy if your building is air-conditioned. If the building needs air conditioning, installing a cool roof may actually solve your problem and you may not need it," he said. "This all would be done at zero cost because you basically do that at the time you are changing your roof. At that time... you just select a white roof or light roof. If you do that then you also improve the ambient air quality within the city and you cool the globe."

Scientists sketched a vision of converting the world's cities into giant sunlight reflectors to help fight global warming. Gradually replacing traditional urban roofs and roads with white or lighter-coloured materials would yield a cooling benefit that, over 50 years, would be the equivalent of a reduction of between 25-150 billion tons of carbon dioxide. At the top end of the scale, this equals the emissions of all the world's cars over the same period, their study published in Britain's Institute of Physics' journal Environmental Research Letters stated.

Light-colored materials like those manufactured by Conklin Roofing Systems help reflect the sun's rays rather than absorb and convert them into heat (a phenomenon known as albedo).

Pavements and roofs make up more than 60% of urban surfaces. By trapping solar energy, they are largely to blame for heat islands, where cities or metropolitan areas become local hot spots. Urban heat islands consume massive energy in air conditioning and inflict significant health costs through smog.

Akbari - also founder and executive vice-chair of the Global Cool Cities Alliance - said in cooler places that require more heat in the winter, but also require air conditioning in the summer the net savings will still benefit the consumer. He said the savings a light roof would achieve in the summer months by keeping the home cool would more than offset the additional need for heat in the winter. "This is a measure that saves everybody throughout the world, uniformly, in terms of energy saving," noting that the idea is not a fix-all for climate issues. "It improves the ambient comfort and it cools the globe. There is absolutely no negative impact for this."

Mr. Akbari also states "There's not going to be a silver bullet or one single technology that solves the global warming problem. If there was, we would have already done it."

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How much money can you save from installing a white roof coating system?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conducted several studies that demonstrate that in hot sunny conditions, a black roof surface is 70 degrees or more hotter than a white reflective roof surfaces. Across the country, this translates to approximately $750,000,000 every year in reduced energy consumption simply by replacing existing black roofs with Energy Star rated white reflective roof coatings like the ones manufactured by Conklin Roofing Systems.

Reflective roof coatings can be made from a variety of materials that comply with building code standards for cool roofing. Installers of coating systems can either roll-on or spray-on roof coatings over existing spray polyurethane foam (SPF), metal, concrete, weathered asphalt, composite, modified bitumen, EPDM, TPO, PVC, and built-up roofing systems.

How much a particular building owner or manager will save from installing a white reflective roof coating depends on climate, existing insulation, the roofing system being coated, utility rates, the particular materials being used, installation method by the contractor, and other factors. There are tools available to calculate your specific savings potential such as the Department of Energy Cool Roof Calculator and the Roof Savings Calculator.

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The benefits and controversy of white roofing

Much has been made in recent years about the benefits of installing white or “cool” roofs like those from Conklin. The idea is that light-colored materials reflect heat, while dark roofs (such as those made of asphalt and tar) absorb heat and drive up air-conditioning consumption in order to offset it. In other words, installing a roof that is white or “reflective” helps save energy and money.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu has pressed Americans to install cool roofs on their homes and business, even committing his own department to making all its new roofs white, but is the hype about cool roofs legitimate? Should you consider one for your home or commercial building?

The net energy savings generated by white roofs compared with dark roofs depends partly on where you’re located. White roofs seem like no-brainers in warm climates like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami, where they can keep air-conditioning bills in check year-round. States like California even now mandate white roofs on commercial buildings. But in cooler climates like Detroit or Toronto, the issue is less straightforward.

While white roofs may shave electric bills in hot summer months, some studies suggest they increase winter heating bills. The question is by just how much. Some scientists say white roofs can increase heating costs more than they save on A/C costs, although scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory dispute this - saying the electricity savings of air-conditioning has found to outweigh any negatives, even in cool cities like Minneapolis.

If you do decide to install a white roof on your business or home, make sure you do some research about costs and options in your area and get at least a few bids from different professional roofing contractors who specialize in cool roofing. There are several different types of reflective roofing materials, and there is a right way and a wrong way to install them.

Also look into incentives available to you. Some states offer rebates for installing white roofs, as do some electric utilities. You can look up incentives online at DSIRE.

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Benefits of Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF) roof systems [+ video]

Foam roofing systems provide many benefits to home and building owners, including waterproofing, insulation value, superior strength, light weight, durability, uplift wind resistance, and longevity.

Spray Polyurethane Foam, or "SPF", has been around for over 40 years. It is applied as a liquid using plural-component spray equipment and expands 30 times its original liquid volume to form a hard, closed-cell monolithic roof surface. Polyurethane foam dries within seconds after it is applied to the roof surface, resulting in a weather-tight roofing membrane that is fully adhered to the substrate.

Once the SPF has been applied to the proper thickness and finish specifications, a protective layer of elastomeric, acrylic, silicone, or polyurethane coating or granule is applied. This protective layer produces a durable, weather-resistant surface and that can be walked on for normal maintenance.

If a white roof coating is chosen, further energy efficiency and sustainability benefits will be realized over the life of the roof as well.

Spray polyurethane foam roofing systems have good adhesion to a variety of substrates, including metal, wood, concrete, modified bitumen, asphalt shingle, clay tile, and built-up, so in many cases this is a viable alternative to re-roofing.

With facilities budgets being more carefully managed in today's economy, there is a growing desire by roofing contractors to provide owners with durable, long-lasting yet affordable roofing systems that combine high energy performance with low maintenance costs.

Under suitable environmental conditions, a relatively small crew can install large jobs and tear-off is usually not required, which keeps costs and project durations low. Although SPF may be a good fit for your building, it does take an experienced, certified contractor to specify, install, or maintain these systems correctly.

How long do foam roofing systems last? Multiple studies conducted by the National Roofing Foundation found that SPF roofs have an effective service life of more than 30 years, assuming proper and regular inspections, cleaning and maintenance are performed. SPF roofing systems typically are re-coated every 10-15 years to maximize the life of the roof system.

SPF roofing systems vary widely in cost depending on the foam thickness required, the type and thickness of the coating or covering, the degree of substrate preparation, availability of contractors in a specific region, and other factors. As with other roofing systems there are both high-end and low-end material.

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White roofs cool cities more than trees do

Cities are hot spots. Their paved surfaces and dark rooftops absorb energy from the sun, which creates localized areas of high temperatures. These hot roofs and blacktops collectively create a blanket of retained warmth in a city, raising temperatures an annual average of about 2-5 degrees Fahrenheit. This phenomenon (known as the urban heat island effect) can have huge impacts on energy use and even health in the warm months, almost like wearing a city-sized sweater on a hot day in July.

As cities become focused on reducing energy use and costs, this inherent increase in temperature is seen as an important target. Combating the urban heat island effect has become an official imperative in cities across the county and all over the world. There are various approaches to fighting the problem, but the primary methods are to plant more trees and make roofs reflect rather than absorb heat.

"Million Tree" campaigns have been launched in cities like New York and Los Angeles, and Phoenix recently approved a Tree and Shade Master Plan to increase the city’s tree canopy to cover 25% of the city over the next two decades. And while trees can help bring down temperatures, new research suggests that it might make more sense to invest in white roof coatings.

In a study recently published in the journal Building and Environment, researchers from Yale University show that the cooling effect of tree cover and other vegetated areas is far outpaced by the cooling achieved through reflective roofing. By analyzing satellite imagery of the city of Chicago from around 1995 and 2009, the researchers found that the parts of the city that had increased their reflectivity show greater reductions in temperature than areas that increased their vegetation.

"That might be contrary to the established view the field has," says Chris Mackey, lead author of the report who started the research as an undergrad studying architecture at Yale. That’s not to say planting trees is a bad method - it’s just not as good as making a rooftop more reflective.

These findings, co-produced by Mackey and a team of researchers at Yale’s Center for Earth Observation, add extra validation to efforts by Chicago, which in 2008 implemented an ordinance requiring most new roofs and roof renovations to be constructed using reflective materials. The program is implemented through the city’s energy conservation code, which passed in the early 2000's.

This study offers at least some data on how well that program is working. The city’s Department of Buildings doesn’t have any hard figures on how many reflective roofs have been built or installed, but Mackey says the satellite imagery he used shows parts of the city with huge swathes of white. One neighborhood had an estimated 80% conversion from black tar roofs to reflective surfaces, and Mackey says the observed temperatures in that area dropped at least 38 degrees. Another collection of warehouses with reflective roofs saw drops of at least 41 degrees.

What conspicuously did not show any significant signs of cooling are the city’s famous green roofs. Because the vegetation of these gardens is at such a low density, it hardly registered in Mackey’s analysis. Not even the well-known City Hall green roof exhibited cooling power.

"The green roof is barely doing anything in comparison to the tree, and the tree is barely doing anything in comparison to painting a warehouse roof white," Mackey says. "I don’t want to discredit green roofs as not potentially a good thing at all. But it would take a lot of money and effort to get a high enough density of vegetation to start cooling things down."

What takes less money and effort is the reflective roof approach. The EPA estimates that "cool roof" coatings and membranes like those from Conklin cost about 5-20 cents more per square foot when compared to traditional roofing methods. A 10,000 square foot roof might cost about $4,500 to coat with reflective roofing, while a similarly sized green roof could cost upwards of $150,000.

"If you were trying to develop a heat island strategy, reflective roofs would be the easiest and most effective," Mackey says.

Green roofs and planting shouldn’t be ignored, but Mackey suggests that the reflective roof approach would be a good way to make dramatic changes quickly. "Once you reach that capacity, then you could start to focus on vegetation increases," he says.


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