"Taking pride in your property”
White roof or cool roof technology is a coating system applied to roofing substrates that reduces the "heat load' carried by the roof. This is achieved through high solar reflectance and high thermal emmitance.
All substrates absorb heat from the sun. Have you ever been on a metal roof on a hot day? The roof heats up to temperatures in excess of double air temperature. So on a day of 30 deg C the roof will be around 60 - 65 deg C. This in turn heats everything in, under and around that roof, generating its own microclimate. All this heat creates what is known as an 'urban heat island'.
The increased heat in our cities in Australia increases discomfort for everyone. It requires an increase in the amount of energy being used for cooling purposes and increases pollution straight into our environment. Each city creates its own urban heat island depending on the city's structure and in turn, each island's range of temperatures will also vary. Parks and greenbelts reduce temperatures while the Central Business District (CBD), commercial areas, and even suburban housing tracts create warmer temperatures. Every house, building, and road changes the microclimate surrounding it, contributing to the urban heat islands of our cities.
White roof or cool roofs can drastically reduce the heat load being generated.
Benefits include:
Less heat being transferred internally.
Greater comfort for occupants.
Huge reduction in mechanical cooling (air conditioning).
Massive savings in power consumption and power bill.
Cooling of our urban heat islands.
Less carbon being released into and polluting the atmosphere.
Less roofing material going to landfill due to old roofs being given a
new life.
What is 'white roof' or 'cool roof' technology?
For more information on Urban Heat Islands specifically related to Melbourne and researched by the School of Earth Sciences, The University
of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, please
