Ten Ways You Can Build Your Next Roof Using Green Construction Methods

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The next time you have to have your roof re-done or have to build a new one for your home, think green. By using green construction methods when building or redoing your roof, you give back to the environment in so many ways. The informational guide below will let you know about ten ways you can build your next roof with green benefits.

What is Green Construction?

When you’re using green construction on your roof, it’s so much more than using dark tile roofs to keep in the heat and light tile roofs to deflect the sun. Green construction is defined as finding a balance between high-quality construction and low environmental impact. It’s about you making a light footprint with your roof, your home or your business building design.

So when the design becomes a construction project, your roof and building are made sustainable by using green materials. Green construction is integrating the materials with the process. This method not only maximizes efficiency like with those light and dark roof tiles but also enhances durability and cost savings.

Ten Ways to Build Your Roof Using Green Construction Methods

In the 22nd century, building a roof using green construction methods has ten clear green processes and benefits.

1 – The 40 Percent Rule

If you integrate green principles into your roof’s planning and design, you will generate 40% more savings and receive 40% better results in your roof’s performance measurements. This is true with your roof, your home, and any commercial building you want to build if you use green construction. You need the best green team that can focus on your green-sustainable roof design. A green construction team may consist of:

  • Architects
  • Engineers
  • Contractors
  • Consultants

All of the above team members will be knowledgeable about green building and roof designs. They will also know about the technologies that provide green benefits from construction materials with their overall cost savings.

2 – Recycled Materials

When you’re using recycled materials for your roof’s green construction material it needs to include:

  • Long-life material like polymer roofing systems
  • Protected-membrane roofing systems that allow for reuse of rigid insulation in future re-roofs
  • Light-colored roofing materials for reducing thermal heat
  • Using roof tiles made of recyclable materials, and more

Every material you consider involves the bigger question of the health, environmental, and energy considerations of that particular roofing material.

3 – Tile

The beauty of using roofing tile is it comes in a wide range of colors that incorporates thermal mass. It is this thermal mass that helps keep the cool air inside on hot days. Also, your roof can last for a century. If you add tile with curved shapes, you’ve helped your home’s ventilation.

4 – Single-ply Thermostat

A single-ply thermostat roof is made of membranes consisting of roof oil and natural gas. The roof oil and natural gas are cured and bonded to the material used on the roof. This gives the roofs their insulated abilities over the building. The single-ply thermostat roof material is not constructed on-site, so they have consistent quality.

5 – Single-ply Thermoplastic

You may think you just read about single-ply above, but there’s more than one kind. Single-ply thermoplastic is at the top of the green construction material pyramid because it’s made of material that absorbs ultraviolet light. The membranes in the roofing material are highly resistant to bacteria and come in rolls of glossy plastic in cool gray or white.

6 – Shingles

Shingles are by far the most popular of all roofing materials. When you want to make the shingles more green and eco-friendly, shingles can be treated with reflective pigments. Once you treat them with reflective pigments, you paint them a bright white. Because the reflective pigments help bumpy shingles reflect light, but it reflects light all over the place in every direction. Because you want to keep the house cooler by reflecting the light where it needs to go, the roof is made using green construction methods. The green construction method is painting them white.

7 – Pavers

Pavers pretend to be roofing tiles, but they’re actually paving tiles designed for a roof. They are over 2 inches, so they are very thick, and they reflect 78% of all ultraviolet light on your roof. Pavers are thick and heavy, so when serving as a roof they need a building that can support their roof weight. You can install pavers in special small areas like a balcony on the roof if your house can’t handle the intense weight of pavers.

8 – Metal

If there’s one green construction method that surprises people, it is the use of metal. But it’s not just any metal. It is a coated metal that’s painted in light colors or with light-reflecting pigments. You now have a treated metal roof that reflects ultraviolet rays and keeps your home cool. The fact that you get to make a statement with the color of your metal-coated roof is a side benefit.

9 – The Living Roof

This is not the cheapest roof to build or maintain, but it is green. You first have to seal up your entire roof. Then you pick the plants of your choice but make sure they can withstand the intensity of direct sunlight, pouring rain, and hot or cold winds. Plants on the roof are a new green construction method, and because it has to come with a structural evaluation it’s not cheap either. But it is popular.

10 – Philadelphia Style

Philadelphia was able to lower its summer heat by one degree by applying highly reflective white coatings to the roofs of an entire city block. This coating can be applied to almost any roofing material, and it will make the material become part of the green construction method. The pigment in the white coating can reflect the infrared. Which makes this green construction method one of the most interesting ones.

All you need is one person to start a green construction roofing project, and most people will see all the benefits of green construction methods. Green construction methods help in passive cooling in buildings and give ecological benefits integrated with cost savings. When your ready to build your roof using green construction methods, reach out to a professional close to you with your questions or ideas. We are ready to help you find green construction benefits with your next roof.

Seven Different Ways The Color of Your Roof Make a Difference

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When you are getting a new roof, it can be quite an exciting purchase for your home. Getting a new roof sometimes takes careful consideration of what type of tile you need to use or what color the tile should be. Did you know the color of your roof can make a statement? Sometimes the color of your roof needs to fit in with your neighborhood rules and regulations. No matter what you need to factor into getting a new roof, there are seven different ways the color of your roof makes a difference to your cost and home benefits.

Dark Roofs Keep in Heat, and Light Roofs Deflect the Sun

It is the dark color of your roof shingles that will help warm your home and affects the temperature in your attic. Sometimes that effect can be anywhere between 20 degrees to 40 degrees warmer. The same holds true with keeping your house cooler when you use light shingles that help deflect sunlight.

In California, all roofs must be Title-24 compliant, which is energy efficient. On new construction, roofers have to use radiant barrier sheathing as your roof deck. When you are re-roofing a home, you can use Title-24 compliant or bring your attic insulation up to R-38 code, which is 13 inches of loose-fill.

Color Coordination with Your Home

When you use a roof tile that has a color found elsewhere on your house like the stucco, or trim, you set up a color coordination win. The matching color schemes between your window shutters and the tiles on your roof give your home dream-like color coordination. For instance, brown shingles look amazing with roof tiles that are cream and brown.

It’s always good to remember dark colors make your home look cozy and smaller. Light colors on your roof make your home look more open and larger. Many people want their roof material color coordination to blend in harmoniously with their natural surroundings.

Gives Your Home Curb Appeal with Higher Resale Value

A roof color that blends in harmoniously with the natural environment around it can give your home more curb appeal. Up to 40% of your home’s exterior is the visual you give to everyone who passes by it. You should be paying as much attention to how your roof looks from the curb as how your interior design is rated by people who come inside your home.

The higher the pitch or slope of your roof, the more roof shingles passing people see from the street. Color has a psychological effect, and if your home is on the beach where calming waves of stillness and water is what you seek, you may not want a roof sloping towards you in bright purple. Curb appeal is important in the communities in which the home is located. Curb appeal can sometimes be what makes or breaks a home selling so choose wisely.

Highlighting Your Homes Features is a Win-Win

If your home has a wrap-around porch, you want everyone to notice and appreciate it. But sometimes, people can look right at a house and not notice something as extraordinary as a wrap-around porch. If you highlight the wrap-around porch with complimentary roof colors, you create a showcase that attracts the eye. Your roof colors should contrast with the porch or window trim to make the wrap-around porch pop.

If you have any stone on your home, you never want to distract from the stone and masonry with a patterned roof. Instead, you want a dark, neutral color that plays on the variances of colors contained within the stonework of your home.

Architectural Style and Accentuating Colors

Your roofs accentuating colors should flow into the architectural style of your home. Ranch houses that are close to the ground typically look better with a combination of colors to help make it pop. Colonial homes are more reserved and traditional, so one solid color is better for their roof design.

Design Your Roof Shingles and Make a Statement

When you’re ready to make a statement to others about your home, you don’t need to look any further than creating a design into your roof shingles. This can be as simple as alternating different warm colors. You might want to raise it a notch, and try to scallop or layer your roof alterations. A rule of thumb is high-contrast colors highlight features of your home while low-contrast colors hide the exterior flaws.

You can design your roof shingles and make a statement with the color through the type of material you use for your roof. Clay, slate, and wood shingle roofs add a unique look to a home with wonderful personality. But slate and clay can break easily. Always be aware of the good and the bad of your unique color roofing designs.

Last, But Not Least – Customize

Customize your roof and make your home one of a kind. There is a virtually limitless variety of colors and profiles you can pick from for your roofing style and color. To create the sophistication you seek, you can order custom levels of color with a gloss or shine added to it. You can use new technology and produce two-tone, variegated colors.

Every roof is different, and no matter what material you use on your roof, or color you choose, before you hire anyone, get to know the dimensions and issues of your roof. If you have a sloped roof or need your new roof to deal with all the dormers and skylights you have, you want to make sure you include that information when you’re speaking to roofing companies.

You also want to know your roof’s square footage. Knowing what you want to do with your roof and what color or design you want is a good place to start. Everyone needs a bit of peace and mind when it comes to replacing or building a new roof. To find out more information about the different ways the color of your roof makes a difference to your home’s value, find a professional close to you and make them your go-to company.