Northeast Flat Roof White Vs Black

Ballasted black membranes can have similar performance to white membranes.

Northeast flat roof white vs black.

By reflecting up to 88 of the sun s energy duro last s white membranes can greatly reduce energy consumption and costs making it an ideal energy efficient cool roofing solution. Higher than the same sheathing material under white shingles on a sunny day. When determining if black or white roofing membrane is a better choice for your commercial building there are a few common misconceptions many people encounter. False white roofs attract and retain dirt easily which quickly diminishes some of the positive aspects of the membrane.

Haag certified roofing inspector epa certified lead safe firm lp preferred remodeler. That s why we say bright is the new black. Study found that for most locations tested roof sheathing temperature below black roof shingles were 10 15 degf. A black or gray modified roof is either painted with a reflective paint or is embedded with tiny white.

For example a black tar roof is often covered with gravel. White roofs are commonly constructed out of tpo or pvc. The first being that white membranes are more durable than black membranes due to their lower surface temperature. One might think that benefits solar gain in a heating climate at least when the roof is not snow covered.

Since a black roof absorbs and retains heat the summer is the absolute worst time to have one. This is one of the reasons why many black roofs are covered with other materials. Why choose a white roof over black. But from a climate and urban heat island standpoint it makes a lot of sense to install bright white roofs.

And white roofs stay cooler potentially lower cooling costs in the summer. Unless routine maintenance and power washing is completed a white roof will often dull and look dirty. City roofs are traditionally black because asphalt and tar are waterproof tough ductile and were easiest to apply to complex rooftop geometries. Company overview pro home services is an award winning exterior remodeling company that has been delighting the most discriminating customers in chicago suburbs with new roofs siding windows and doors for more than 12 years.

That means blacks roofs in the northern usa might provide lower heat costs compared to buildings with white roofs in the north during winter. Vegetated green roofs can use black membranes because performance isn t affected by the membrane solar reflectance. White roofs will stay white. In other words white roofs cost 9 per square foot less than green roofs over 50 years or 0 30 per square foot each year.

The 50 year life cycle cost analysis found that even the most inexpensive kind of green roof with no public access and consisting of only sedum or prairie grass costs 7 per square foot more than black roofs over 50 years while white roofs save 2 per square foot compared to black roofs. Built up membranes can be surfaced with energy star cap sheets creating a white membrane.