Improving Energy Efficiency with Cool Roofs in Indianapolis

If you want your home or office to be more energy efficient, start with the roof. Cool roofs are becoming increasingly popular to save on energy costs and create a more sustainable lifestyle.

Here's what you need to know about energy-efficient cool roofs and how they can help you.

What Are Cool Roofs?

Cool roofs are light-colored and reflect the sun's heat back into the sky rather than letting it inside your home or office. By keeping the heat away from the property, this prevents the need for additional energy use indoors.

High solar reflectance is the most important factor when choosing a cool roof. In addition to high thermal emittance, these factors together reduce the temperature on the roof as well as inside your home or office and in the surrounding air.

According to the EPA, cool roofs can reduce indoor temperatures by 2.2–5.9°F. Buildings with cool roofs in Indianapolis will use less air conditioning and have more comfortable indoor temperatures, saving energy.

Different Materials for Cool Roofs

If you need a new roof, you can consider options for cool roof materials. There are asphalt shingles, clay tiles, metal roofing, single-ply polymers, terracotta clay, wooden boards, and even concrete variants. To increase the efficiency of these materials, especially if they are dark in color, they are coated with a light-colored polymer coating.

In fact, roof coatings can be extremely useful for businesses that need commercial roofing in Indianapolis. If your commercial property has a relatively new roof, you can turn it into a cool roof with a reflective coating.

White Roof Coating

White roof coatings create a shiny glow caused by the reflection of sunlight off the roof. The white color has long been known as a color that reflects sun rays and can be extremely useful for keeping your business cool, reducing energy costs. For residential spaces, this can also create a clean aesthetic look.

Colored Coating

Pigments in various colors such as red, green, or blue can also provide reflective properties. However, they are not as effective as white coatings.

Reflective Granular Surface

Reflective granular coatings are ideal for commercial properties. Usually, they contain layers of asphalt or fiberglass mat, coated with bitumen. They become reflective due to the addition of mineral granules on the top layer of the sheet.

Aluminum Coating

If you have an asphalt roof, you can add an aluminum coating. It is made from aluminum sheets and highly effective in reflecting solar heat away from your building.

Membrane Roofs

Membrane roofs are available in ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and thermoplastic olefin (TPO). These single-ply sheets of material are installed over commercial roofing as both a protective measure and an effective reflector.

Benefits of Installing a Cool Roof on Your Property

In ideal conditions, if you need to replace a roof or build a new commercial property, you can easily make it built in such a way. However, even if your roof is still in good condition, you might consider applying a coating to turn it into a cool roof.

This can bring many benefits. First, when it's hot outside, the interior of your business will be cooler and more comfortable. In Indianapolis, summer can get quite hot, but without a cool roof, you may feel extra heat penetrating inside.

When you don't have a cool roof and it's hot outside, you need to lower the air conditioning temperature to compensate. If your business serves many customers and visitors, their comfort is crucial – they may leave for another place if it becomes as hot inside as outside. A cool roof reduces the need for lower air conditioning temperatures and helps prevent system wear.

Roofs are also exposed to intense sunlight. They endure day after day of exposure, which negatively affects their condition. Installing a cool roof or using a coating reduces the roof temperature and allows it to withstand all seasons.

What's even better, you reduce air pollution by decreasing electricity consumption and reflecting heat into the atmosphere, helping keep Indianapolis cool in summer. Considering all these benefits, cool roofs are definitely worth considering!