Buildings in the past were often constructed with little attention to the long term cost of operating them, resulting in high energy bills. Energy secretary Steven Chu has noted that in addition to reducing energy costs, cool roofing can also help in the fight against climate change.
The savings with cool roofing are significant, reducing cooling bills by 20% to 70% in studies of buildings where it's already been employed, providing one strong motivation for adopting cool roofing.
Cool roofing products are generally a paint-like acrylic coating that is white, or close to it, bouncing light and heat away from the roof. These products generally require multiple coats going on and the coating must be reapplied every few years to keep working.
AMCRG
has developed an epoxy-based coating called EPOX-Z NRG, which uses one
coat and lasts for a much longer time, saving time and money compared
to other products that require multiple coats. As an epoxy, it lasts
much longer than most other Acrylic-based products, but is flexible,
and does not crack or shrink. It can be applied
to a wide range of surfaces using the same equipment used to apply
other materials, making it easy to put on and with a 33% lower
installed cost than other products like the acrylic-based elastomeric
cool roof coatings. EPOX-Z NRG also contains no
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), unlike most products, and has been
tested to meet or exceed Energy Star requirements and received
provisional Energy Star Partner listing, and is ready for a roof near
you.
Read more at Fast Company with Glenn Croston
Glenn Croston is the founder of StartingUpGreen.com, helping businesses to start and grow green. He is also the author of "75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference", and the author of "Starting Green", a nuts and bolts guide to starting and growing a successful green business.