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