The City of Chicago leads the country in reflectivity requirements to reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect. Urban Heat Islands occur when dark colored pavement, roofs and walls get hot and increase the air temperature greater than a field or park.
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Cool roof products are available in all types of materials such as field applied coatings used on almost all types of roofs, single-plies, roof shingles, roof tiles and factory coated metal.
A cool roof is designed to reflect and emit the sun's heat back to the sky instead of transferring it to the building structure below. The "coolness" of a roof is measured by two properties, solar reflectance and thermal emittance. Both properties are measured on a scale from 0 to 1, and the higher the value, the "cooler" the roof.
There are many benefits of a cool roof including increased indoor comfort by keeping the rooftop cooler during hot summer months. Utility costs are lowered by reducing the need for air conditioning. Studies have shown typical cooling energy savings of 10 to 35% in cooling energy and an extension in the life cycle of cooling equipment.
Reducing the Urban Heat Island Effect with cool roofs addresses air pollution and global warming concerns by lowering CO2 and other emissions associated with fossil fuel generated electricity used for air conditioning. They also reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect by reflecting heat back into the atmosphere.
As with all roofing, the cool roof system has to be installed to the manufacturers installation instructions, the listing, where applicable, and the building code.
Visit the specific garden membrane pages for more information.
Professional Chicagoland Roofing Council contractor roofing technicians understand the complexity of all types of roofing and get the installation done right the first time. Contact a CRC Contractor that has the equipment, workforce and technology to get your roof done right.